Pour the Champagne
by Fireflies Glow
Summary: Things change. So do people. Propelled 7 years into the future, Ichigo is engaged to Masaya. But Kish's reaction becomes the least of her worries when the aliens come back for the wedding and a surprise guest follows behind. "It ate my ring!" KxI PxL TxP
1. Chapter 1: Wedding Bells

Pour the Champagne

**Summary:** Things change. So do people. Propelled seven years into the future, Ichigo is engaged to Masaya. But Kish's reaction turns into the least of her worries when the aliens come back to earth for the wedding and a surprise guest follows behind. "Did that thing seriously just eat my ring?!" (KxI, PxL, TxP.)

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Chapter 1: Wedding Bells

_Love-- a wildly misunderstood although highly desirable malfunction of the heart which weakens the brain, causes eyes to sparkle, cheeks to glow, blood pressure to rise and the lips to pucker._

_- Anonymous _

Ichigo Momomiya admired the ring placed on her left hand, a glimmering ruby in the sunlight, while relishing the familiar blush on her cheeks and enjoying the feeling of belonging to someone. Someone special. Someone who she had loved for the past many years; someone who loved her back just as much, by the name of Masaya Aoyama. Someone she was about to marry sometime within the next few years.

The redheaded girl, hair now grown from chin to shoulder with the absence of bangs prominent on her face, sighed and leaned back into the park bench she was currently lounging on.

_Masaya. _She giggled, as old habits die hard. At the age of twenty, she had never imagined becoming engaged…. Never imagined still being with Aoyama-kun. No, it was _Masaya_ now. He was just so… Perfect. So perfectly wonderful, and she never could figure out why he loved her-- her, Ichigo, the little imperfection that had somehow managed to twist herself into his life.

Oh, he was perfect wasn't he? Tanned, and complete with warm brown eyes like milk chocolate. His dark bangs nestled against his forehead, now so long they tickled her own forehead when they kissed.

Ichigo put up her ring again, silencing another half-emitted laugh while she watched the red ruby sparkle as she waved it gently left to right. She couldn't imagine it not being their now, despite the fact that she had received it little more than a week ago. It just seemed to belong there, her heart reminding her that she and Masaya were really meant to be together.

Forever. Blissfully together for eternity.

She could tell you any detail about Masaya on the night he proposed to her: the way his hair swept around his face, his smile seeming somewhat nervous but calming her at the same time, the way he hadn't stammered when he knelt on one knee and actually said the four words of "Ichigo, will you marry me?"

It had been no surprise that he asked her to marry him, of course, and Ichigo had been hoping for him to ask her soon. After seven years of being a couple, he had to ask her at some point. Well, almost seven years.

The anniversary of their first date was coming up soon, Ichigo realized giddily, and her first kiss just a few days after. She had never received it the way she expected it... Of course, she had always hoped it would be from Masaya.

But it was from Kish!

Allowing herself a brief smile, she thought back to the days when her only concerns were what to wear and what Masaya thought of her... She giggled. _Well, that and saving the world._

It was almost funny thinking about her first kiss. Looking back, it actually hadn't been that bad if not slightly shocking... It was kind of sweet, in a Kish way, when she thought about it and she smiled thinking of him. Briefly, she wondered how he was doing.

His kisses were nothing at all like Masaya's though... Laughing again, she remembered the night of her proposal, looking back to the events leading up to it and...

And then, Masaya proposed. Right on the very park bench she was sitting on! And the stars had been twinkling up above. Ichigo closed her eyes, imagining the night she became engaged on. She opened her eyes quickly, slightly annoyed by the bright noon sun shining down on her.

_Noon sun…_ Ichigo paused, straightening up. _I'm supposed to be somewhere at noon… _

"Wait…" She glanced at her watch and yelped, smoothing her white pleated skirt down. With a familiar cry of "Oh no! I'm going to be late!," she raced off into the distance, clutching her purse tightly in her fist.

Some things never change.

* * *

**A/N:** Tada! Done! :)

Anyway, first ever story is posted! This chapter is sort of catching you up into what's happening today, and I'm sorry because it's awfully short. I described Ichigo's looks briefly because, obviously, no one wears the exact same thing ten years later in life

Yes, I do realize that Ichigo is planning on getting married very soon. And I mean, VERY soon. It is in no way my view at all of marriage. The reason why they are planning on marrying so young is because they honestly feel that because they've known each other for so long, why wait? Right now, they want a future together.

Feel free to send over a review and let me know what you think! I hope you liked this so far! :)

~ Bunny,

Fireflies Glow


	2. Chapter 2: Do I Know You?

Chapter 2: Do I Know You?

* * *

_One chance is all you need._

_- Jesse Owens_

_

* * *

  
_

Weaving expertly through the crowd, Ichigo passed the flower vendor and grocery store as she hurried out of the park. She mumbled words of anger quietly to herself, mentally cursing her boss as she rushed toward her side job. She knew he would kill her if she was late again.

And then it happened.

It seemed to occur to her in slow motion, at a snail's pace as she zoomed by various faces, that she crashed into him. As quickly as she was moving, Ichigo was thrown backwards. She rubbed her forehead, groaning.

"A-are you okay?" she asked the stranger after recovering with nothing but a slight headache. "I'm sorry... I was moving way too fast and..."

Papers from his satchel flew in various directions in a shower of mail, bills and reports. She noticed that she couldn't see his face, the boy she had crashed into, and hastened to pick up the notes as they fell through the air. "I'm so sorry," she continued to apologize, grabbing a receipt.

Ichigo managed to snatch most of the papers as they floated down towards them, and she was beginning to see the man in front of her. He was pale, she noticed.

_Or at least he has pale legs_, she amended.

The stranger coughed and held up an ashen hand. "It's okay," he told her, "just watch where you're going next time. You were on the wrong side of the street."

"I--" Ichigo started. The man sounded so familiar, almost like an old friend. No, that wasn't right. She hadn't considered the owner of that voice a friend until much later.

"Don't apologize, I wasn't watching where I was going either." He stood up and offered her a hand to help her up. Ichigo placed her small hand in his and he pulled her up.

"Thanks, I-- Whoa!"

"Is everything alright?"

She gasped.

A curious pair of golden eyes stared out at her. Eyes that she had looked at many times before....

_His eyes! I know those eyes...._

"Do I know you?" She inquired, still gazing at the amber color.

"No, but I could get to know you," he smirked, externally enjoying her awed expression of him.

_That voice... Those eyes..._

Ichigo's ring flashed as he let go of her hand. His smirk vanished as soon as he saw it.

_My ring_, Ichigo managed to think, _he knows I'm engaged. _

"I know you," she said, desperately. "Aren't you...?"

His eyes narrowed, all politeness before vanishing. "No," he said, curtly, "but I really ought to be going..."

"Wait!" Ichigo cried and grabbed his arm. The stranger turned to face her, obviously noting her deranged manner.

His hair was a shade of forest green, and her eyes widened automatically upon noticing.

"Yes?" The stranger that appeared to be not so much of a stranger after all seemed to be forcing tolerance into his voice.

"I... I know you! Don't you remember me?"

"No, you don't. I don't know you." He yanked his arm away from her, hurrying into the other direction before she could say anymore.

"But," she said to herself as she watched him hurry into the distance, "you look just like him."

It was weird that she was thinking of Kish now so many times today when she hadn't in many years.

Kish... That annoying pest who had always managed to get a kiss out of her almost each time he saw her. The alien who claimed that he loved her, that died for her... That somehow had a person who looked almost just like him on earth.

_Maybe his eyes were really a weird shade of brown... _Ichigo sighed. _And I was so sure it was Kish._

But why would he be here? The last time Ichigo remembered seeing any of the aliens was about seven years ago... With the exception of Tart and Pudding, the Mews and aliens hadn't seen or spoken to each other since their last and final fight. Even then, Tart had recently stopped visiting.

_I'm just being stupid,_ Ichigo thought with a strike of bitterness. _Why would Kish even be here? _

She noticed something that she hadn't expected. After seven years, she actually missed them. Them: Kish and Pai and Tart. The odd and young trio that was sent out to reclaim the earth and instead came back with Mew Aqua to revive their dying planet.

Gosh, she hadn't seen or heard from them in so long. Ichigo wondered if they were alright, but the aliens had no reason to contact them. And why should they without a reason? Why should they come back to earth? They did not need to see the Mew Mews.

Ichigo briefly wondered if they would even want to.

Tart, she knew, had been sneaking visits to Pudding, but hadn't for a very long time. At times, Ichigo had questioned why he had stopped. It had been so many years now... Why shouldn't he visit again?

Pai... He had seemed to like Lettuce, even if it was only for a second, but he hadn't returned to see her. And why shouldn't he visit now, too?

And Kish... Where could she start on Kish? Did he even still like her? He said he only wanted her to be happy, but how could he be guaranteed that if he didn't come back to see her?

They would need a reason to return back to planet Earth... An important reason. A reason like...

_My wedding!_

Ichigo laughed quietly to herself. _Why _shouldn't_ the aliens be invited to my wedding? Why not? Why _couldn't _they come to my wedding?_

Ichigo's smile faltered once she realized that there was no way she had to contact them. If only...

Ryou! He knew how to contact the aliens! And if he didn't then he would find a way soon_,_ Ichigo stubbornly added as she rejoiced.

Filled with a sudden burst of excitement, Ichigo quickened her pace towards Café Mew Mew. She had never been so happy and eager to go to work since she could remember.

* * *

**A/N:** Hey there! And so, the story is pretty much set into action. Let me know what's going on with you as you read! :) The whole gang's up in the next chapter, so get ready for their reactions to Ichigo's idea!

~ Bunny,

Fireflies Glow


	3. Chapter 3: New Guests on the Guest List

Chapter 3: New Guests on the Guest List

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_Friends have all things in common.  
- Plato_

_

* * *

_Ichigo stared at the doors, pausing to admire the café. It was the team building and Ichigo had always felt a sense of pride when she saw the restaurant. Saving lives, fighting creatures, falling in love...

"Ichigo!" It was a loud voice that snapped her out of her reverie; a familiar voice that came from a bench outside the café. Ichigo was glad. She hadn't ever thought about the past as often as today.

"Pudding!" She laughed. "What are you doing out here?"

"Homework." Pudding stuck her tongue out, taking a red lollipop out of her mouth. Her light hair was longer since Ichigo last remembered when they were Mew Mews fighting aliens, but otherwise Pudding was the same. She had grown taller, just a bit shorter than Ichigo, but she was still sweet and playful.

"Aren't you supposed to be working?" Ichigo sat next to her on the bench, leaning over to see Pudding's paper.

"Ryou told me I could finish my science homework before I washed the dishes."

Ichigo grimaced, remembering that he had never let her do that.

Easily, Pudding continued, "I hate homework. I never had as much when we fought the aliens."

"Pudding, you were eight," Ichigo rolled her eyes. "And you also didn't have all of those after school activities."

"Well, I think taking care of my siblings were enough after school activities to last a lifetime," Pudding licked her lollipop and grinned, remembering the old days. "Silly Ichigo, na no da!"

Ichigo smiled. Pudding hadn't added that to the end of sentences since Tart stopped visiting. Pudding would be so happy to see Tart again. Ichigo puffed a short breath of air as she remembered why she had come here so suddenly and was about to ask where Ryou was when Pudding asked a single question.

"Why are you late?"

It caught her off-guard and Ichigo was reminded again of the reason why she needed to speak with Ryou so soon. "Pudding, I bumped into a man today."

"Masaya?" Pudding giggled, her eyes sparkling. "You two are so cute together."

"No, it was someone else."

"Who was it then? Oops, sorry, I forgot that I shouldn't ask so many things. No more questions, I promise," Pudding clapped her hands over her mouth.

"I saw someone who looked like Kish."

"Kish!" Pudding gasped dramatically. "No way! You didn't really see him, did you? Oh gosh, I haven't seen him or Pai or... Taru Taru...." Pudding's face changed drastically from joy to disappointment. The sad expression stayed for a second and no longer. "….but he hasn't been here for... two years?"

"What?" Ichigo asked, absentmindedly thinking about what the aliens were really up to nowadays.

"Tart hasn't visited me since... Well, I was thirteen. That was two years ago, right?"

"Yeah. Two years. Gosh, a lot has changed since then, huh?"

"Mm-hm, but y'know," Pudding glanced at her half finished lollipop and homework, "maybe it really was Kish!"

"No," Ichigo sighed, "it wasn't him. They have no reason to come back, except... Is that Lettuce? I can't see."

"Lettuce!" Pudding stood up on the bench and waved to a green haired girl carrying a pair of glasses in her hand. Her long hair, done in their usual two braids, fluttered behind her in the wind.

_She hasn't changed at all,_ Ichigo thought to herself.

Squinting, Lettuce waved back and wiped her glasses on her long skirt before sliding them onto the bridge of her nose. "Hi, Pudding! Ryou wanted me to ask you if... Ichigo! You aren't late again, are you? Pudding told me you were in the back working..."

Pudding grinned sheepishly at her friends.

Ichigo beamed. She always knew she loved that monkey of a girl. "Thanks, Pudding!"

Pudding laughed. "No problem, Ichigo onee-chan!"

Quickly, Ichigo replied, "Yeah, but anyway, this time it's actually really important because--"

"I don't think Ryou's going to be very happy," Lettuce looked down at Ichigo, being much taller than her, with a worried expression on her face. "Y'know that he thinks you're late all the time because you're engaged to Masaya now... D-don't you get worried about being late?"

"Tell him to relax," Ichigo huffed. "He'll understand one day when he falls in love."

"Aww!" Pudding cooed. "I guess you didn't need the Fong family's secret love potion after all!"

"And besides, this time it's really important," Ichigo continued. "Let's go inside."

The café looked exactly the same as Ichigo remembered, except maybe a bit more worn and loved. There was even a fuming blonde waiting for her when she walked in.

"Ichigo Momomiya!" Ryou bellowed as loud as he was permitted with customers in the area. "I am this close to firing you!" He held up his fingers so only the space of a thread was between. "This close!"

"Yeah, and you never do," Ichigo gloated, "but right now I have something important to tell you all."

"If you weren't the only one doing work around here, then I would." Ryou stopped and smirked. "Besides, I'm docking your pay again."

Ichigo's eyes flashed for a moment and she replied, "Whatever."

"Get to work!" He shouted, calming down slightly. "And why aren't you caring about your pay today? Hey, what's so important?"

"Yes sir," Ichigo muttered under her breath. "Going to work."

"Ryou," Keiichiro, who hadn't changed in the slightest, called from the kitchen. "I need your help with something. Could everyone come, please?" As soon as the group came inside, Keiichiro smiled and picked out a batch of cookies. "Pudding, you said Ichigo had to say something important? Cookies anyone?"

Pudding nodded her head speedily and grinned before taking one. "Yummy! Chocolate chip!"

Ichigo surveyed her audience. To the right of her was a slightly bored looking Mint. Mint was now a professional ballerina, but at the moment she stayed "working at the café for kicks," or so she said.

On the other side of Mint stood the ever tall and graceful Zakuro sporting a framed shoulder-length bob for her latest modeling job. Zakuro had turned out not be be a fad in fashion, but an icon. Why she still stayed at the café, Ichigo would never know.

Standing next to her was a timid looking Lettuce, hands neatly folded in her lap where she sat. Lettuce's hands were curled around a novel, and Ichigo kept herself from chuckling. She could tell that Lettuce was dying to finish it.

Berry, the last addition to the Mews, stood next to her boyfriend Tasuku with their arms wrapped around each other. Ichigo always felt a pang of sweetness when she saw the couple because they reminded her of herself and Masaya a few years ago. Berry's hair was slightly longer, but still straight and Tasuku, of course, had never changed.

And there was an excited Pudding, smiling Keiichiro and angry Ryou standing before her.

"What would you guys say," Ichigo shifted her weight from one foot to another, "if I told you I bumped into a guy who looked just like Kish today?"

"I would say you were crazy," Mint rolled her eyes, brown eyes looking bored.

"No, seriously!"

"Ichigo," Zakuro said, "what are you talking about?"

The red haired girl shifted uncomfortably from side to side. "Let's say... That the aliens came back now. I mean, after all these years. Wouldn't you guys want to see them again?"

"Kish?" Berry asked at last, looking utterly confused and turning to Tasuku. "Who the heck is Kish?"

Tasuku shook his head. "Wasn't he one of those weirdos you guys fought before Berry joined the team? One of Pudding's friend Tart's friends?" He paused. "Did that make any sense?"

Ichigo nodded her head speedily as Keiichiro opened his mouth to speak. "Yes, he was one of them."

"Why are you talking about the aliens now, Ichigo?" Mint drank a sip of tea. "We haven't heard from them since... Wasn't that a decade ago?"

Lettuce's eyes shined. "No, about seven years."

"Wow, that's a long time ago!" Pudding explained. "Man, it doesn't feel like that at all!"

"We're getting old," Mint mentioned, glumly. "Pudding, you're the only one still in high school."

"I'm talking about the aliens," Ichigo cried, exasperated and frustrated, "because I want to invite them to my wedding!"

There was a pause and Keiichiro dropped a tray of cookies. And suddenly...

"That is the stupidest thing I ever heard since you asked for a raise last--"

"What would Masaya th- think about that?--"

"Ichigo, we haven't seen them in years and even then--"

"I still don't know who that guy Kish--"

"Weren't they crazy though, Ichigo, since--"

"You mean I could see Tart again?--"

"Do they even know what a wedding is? Because--"

"Why now?" Zakuro's voice rang clearly through the back of the restaurant. "Why now when we haven't spoken to them in years? They didn't try to contact us since they left."

"It's my wedding," Ichigo reasoned.

Silence.

"Please, you guys," Ichigo pleaded. "Don't you want to see them again?"

"I miss Tart," Pudding said plainly.

"I-I guess that it would be okay for them to visit again," Lettuce stuttered, worried about the rest of the team's reaction.

Ichigo looked at Mint who in turn added, "I suppose it would be fine if they came again... Right, Zakuro?"

"I don't see any harm in them coming," she agreed.

"If that means I get to find out who Kish is," Berry shrugged her shoulders, "then I'm in."

"If Berry's for it, I'm for it," Tasuku said.

Keiichiro smiled. "Why not?"

Ichigo smirked, turning to Ryou. For a moment, he looked as if he was unwilling to budge from his position. But suddenly, the ghost of a smile appeared on his face. "Okay," he huffed, glaring at her half-heartedly. "I guess we can send them an invitation soon..."

"Thank you so much, you guys! I love you! You're the best friends a girl could ever have!" Ichigo giggled, twirling in a circle. "Thanks, Ryou!" His eye twitched as she continued, "I always knew you were good for something!"

* * *

**A/N:** And the aliens are coming! It's official, it's approved. Now the story is going to really start!

So, ooh, it looks like something happened between Pudding and Tart. Oh no... And, hey, what's the background story behind that? Anyway, I finally updated. I've been super busy lately (don't worry, I'll try to answer everyone this weekend!)

Send me your thoughts on Berry being in the story. I know tons of people hate her, or don't know who she is, but I figured that she might as well be in the story. I thought that Berry and Tasuku could add a lot to the story and also, the focus of the story is not them. If it was, I would have added them in the main pairings. If anybody has not read Tokyo Mew Mew a la Mode, then check out Mangafox... They should be able to tell you!

Thanks for reading and reviewing, everyone! :) You all are the greatest!

~ Bunny,

Fireflies Glow


	4. Chapter 4: Reinforcement and Remembrance

Chapter 4: Reenforcement and Remembrance

* * *

_It takes only a minute to get a crush on someone, an hour to like someone, and a day to love someone, but it takes a lifetime to forget someone. _

_- Unknown_

* * *

It had been odd when they had came back, of course. The cheering families, the exclaimed shouts of joy. And then there was the fame. And with the fame, the chaos. There was also the fact that the battle had not yet been won when they received the Mew Aqua, but had only just started.

"Kish!" Pai yelled with as much emotion as his voice could allow. "Did you lose them?"

There was static on the other end of the line and although Pai knew that Kish was the best fighter his planet had, he could not help but feel a stroke of panic. Despite the fact his face remained calm, inside he felt tumultuous.

Pai strained his ears, trying to catch what he thought was a bit of a cough. Finally, he sighed in deep annoyance. "Could you be quiet?" He asked the alien standing next to him. "It's bad enough that this ship has terrible acoustics."

Tart stopped whistling promptly. "Whatever," he told him.

Pai shrugged his worry over, remembering several times when the new enemy attacked and Kish had not responded until they were defeated. The time of response ranged from twelve minutes to two hours, the average being thirty-two minutes if Pai calculated correctly.

"Of course they attack on Kish's shift," Tart grumbled, crossing his arms. "He always gets all the action... We never do."

"Did you ever grow up?" Pai asked, slightly irritated.

"No. Were you ever young?"

Pai ignored his younger peer and friend's comment.

"I think we should call in the Mew Mews," Tart suggested, mischievous glint in his eyes. "They always beat us up real bad a couple of years ago."

"It was seven years ago, Tart. You only want to see Pudding, am I not correct?" It was not a question, in reality, but a statement. Pai was not surprised by Tart's comment... Recently, he had been declaring that he personally would call the Mew Mews in and Pai himself had debated on the matter as well. He however had given up all hope because the former enemies had not spoken in seven years and as he was always being the most logical and rational, Pai figured that relations would be too strained by the gap of time.

"Well," Tart's face looked somewhat sly as he answered his companion. "I guess so. I haven't seen her in two years, y'know. And you haven't seen Lettuce in seven."

Pai froze. "Stay out of my feelings. They are none of your business nor are they your concern."

Tart stuck his tongue out at him.

"Do you hear that?" Pai asked him suddenly.

"Hear what? Your annoying comments or your grumbling?"

"That," Pai gestured toward the communication device in front of him. "It sounded like a cough."

"Probably Kish," Tart frowned, "who always gets into battle. Without us."

"Will you be quiet or do I have to send you to probation?"

"You can't do that," Tart grinned. "I'm on the same rank as you. Highest level for the best fighters. For the best people. You know that it's just us: you, me and Kish."

"And how you rose to that position I'll never know."

"Shut up, Pai. You're such a wimp."

"I hear it again."

"I don't hear--" Tart paused. "What was that?"

"Shh." Pai felt his heart skip a beat as he heard footsteps moving toward Kish's communication device.

"I lost them," Kish coughed.

Pai breathed a sigh of relief and he noticed Tart sink back into a chair. Although Tart would never admit it, he actually worried for him at times.

"But just barely," Kish continued, "And I couldn't attack any of them. That's why I'm talking to you faster than usual... All I could do was run."

"You don't sound good," Pai commented, keeping all his worries to himself. If they were able to force Kish on the run, things were not looking as well as usual.

Kish coughed again, a loud hacking sound. Tart's face scrunched up at the noise.

"They're getting better, but so are we," Kish mumbled and added a little quieter, "and I hate losing."

"You know that it was not technically losing," Pai informed him.

"I still hate losing."

"Well, we know that, stupid." Tart rolled his eyes.

"Shut your mouth, Tart," Kish snapped. "You're only fifteen, you brat."

"And you're only twenty-two!" Tart growled.

"Yeah, and I'm older than you and that means--" Kish whooped, his voice breaking. "Ouch, that hurt."

"Save your strength," Pai interrupted quickly. "We will see you in about three minutes."

"Fine," Kish said, adding a sigh.

Tart snickered, turning forward to look at Pie. He bit his bottom lip upon seeing his solemnity.

"I'll deal with you later," Pai promised.

In the couple of minutes it took Kish to arrive, Tart stayed silent until Kish strolled slowly into the room, a slight smile on his pale face.

"Whoa, what did they do to you?" Tart gasped.

Kish's forest green hair hung limp around his face, ponytails askew. He coughed as the two other aliens stared at his arm, a single red scratch gleaming back at them.

"Did they get you?" Tart asked when Kish didn't answer.

Kish grinned, still lighthearted in the face of his painful injury. "Told ya they almost got me."

Pai shook his head in amazement. "They've never gotten you before."

"I know," he looked at the ship's floor, his foot tracing a random pattern, "but it's really because I wasn't paying attention..."

"Kish," Pai growled.

"Yeah, I know," he waved a hand in the air, always careless, and sat down. He propped his legs up on the control panel. "I'll be more careful next time."

"You know that one mistake can be your end," Pai warned. "And get your feet off the dashboard. You must realize that you had us all worried for a few minutes."

There was a beeping noise and Kish grinned. "Time's up, our shift's done," Kish stretched, glancing at the single lone scratch on his arm. "Wasn't that fun?"

"For you," Tart grumbled.

There was another alarmingly noisy sound, barely a few seconds after the first beep.

"Does your computer ever shut up?" Kish shouted over the noise as Tart plugged his ears.

Pai pursed his lips. "I am currently trying to fix that problem." Quickly, Pai raced toward his computer and glanced at the screen. "We have a message."

Tart cracked a knuckle. "A message? You mean from the leaders?"

"We are the leaders, you idiot," Kish chuckled.

Tart rolled his eyes. "Not quite."

There was silence from Pai, who normally would have made a jab at the two's bickering. Kish quickly picked up on Pai's silence. "Pai?" Kish asked, turning to face him. "Hello, Paaaai? Anyone home?"

The purpled haired alien blinked several times and murmured three words, "The Mew Mews."

Kish froze. "What about the Mew Mews?"

Tart looked animated. "For real? The Mew Mews?"

"The Mew Mews," Pai said, "have contacted us."

"How?" Tart asked.

"How, I do not know," Pai commented, "but they have."

"Read it," Kish commanded, eyes faraway.

"It's an invitation for something."

"Read it!"

Pai stared at Kish, as did Tart, because of his forcefulness. Briefly, Pie wondered if it was because of Ichigo and pushed the thought to the back of his head.

"It reads," Pai cleared his throat and continued, "Ichigo Momomiya and Masaya Aoyama..."

Kish's eyes flickered, and he gazed upward.

"... request the honor of our presence at their marriage..."

Kish's bottom lip curled into a snarl as Pai read onward. "That's enough. That's all I need to know."

"It explains what a wedding is," Pai felt the corner of his lips tug upwards, amazed.

"As if we didn't know what a wedding was," Tart snorted and paused, adding innocently, "Pai, what's a wedding?

Pai glanced at him and Tart grew quiet. "Just kidding," he mumbled.

"I don't know if we should go. We haven't seen or heard from the Mews in seven years, with the exception of Tart. The future of our planet is, at the moment, on stake," Pai pointed out.

"I want to see them," Tart said. "Can we go, Pie?"

Kish looked merely blank. "She's getting married?"

"She" didn't need to be specified. Kish rarely showed his affection for Ichigo nowadays, telling the lie to everyone he did not care for her anymore, but when he did it was always slightly bitter and full of regret.

Tart gulped. Over the years he had become so used to passionate outbursts from Kish that when he was internally focused, it scared him.

"You never got over her, did you?" Pai licked his lips. Kish had always been strong and passionate when it came to Ichigo, more so than even rescuing their whole planet.

"I am," Kish told him determinedly, "I will. It was a hopeless love and this proves it that she never loved me. If getting married makes her happy, I'll be happy then. I just never forgot her, that's all."

"Seven years later and you're still not over her?" Tart snorted. "You'll never be over her. I always knew there was a reason all of your girlfriends looked kind of like her."

Kish glared. "Hey, kiddo, you never forget your first love..."

"Oh, here we go," Tart groaned.

"... And even then you never get completely over her and you want to know why?"

"No," Tart said sourly.

Kish plowed on, eyes blazing, "You never get over her because she's the reason you fell in love. She's the reason you would give up anything for her. She's the reason you thought you were alive for."

"As much as we enjoy listening to your rants about Ichigo," Tart moaned, "we really don't care anymore." Calming down, Tart said, "Pai, we have to go to her wedding."

Kish stared out the window at their approaching planet, now a beautiful swirl of blue and green, thanks to the Mew Mews. He smiled. Thanks to _her._ "Ichigo's getting married," he whispered. "That's weird."

"Kish?" Pai asked.

"Nothing."

Pai looked at Kish, analyzing him. "I am not sure if we should go. We have several others that are strong and can take care of the planet while we are gone. In the meantime, we can ask the Mew Mews for help if things are that bad."

"No," Kish said. "They shouldn't know. You know them. They would worry about us too much. Besides, while we're there we can at least see them again."

"I say we go either way," Tart grinned.

"I think it would be wise to go," Pai nodded his head in agreement. "There would be new plans and fresh ideas while we are gone. Things are mostly in control right now."

"Yes," Kish said, thinking about how much time had passed since he had last seen Ichigo, and added quieter, "I want to see her again." He grinned. "Let's go."

* * *

**A/N:** Hello, all!

Ooh, ouch, looks like things aren't going so well for the aliens back at home but better for them than usual... If only Kish tried more with his job! In case you are wondering, you're supposed to not know about the details too much and just the basics. Oh man, they've decided to come! How exciting! Kish doesn't seem overly thrilled with the idea, but is alright with it. Hm, wonder how this'll turn out... :) So will all feelings return to Kish or what? Obviously he still seems to like her, but in check of his feelings. You decide. Till next time...

But words honestly can not describe how incredibly sorry I am that I've pretty much left everyone for so long. I've been beyond busy lately, but that's no excuse for ignoring fanfiction. This is so much to ask for, but please review! It really means the world with me, and I promise you that updates come much sooner. In the meantime thanks for sticking with me, everyone!

~ Bunny,

Fireflies Glow


	5. Chapter 5: RSVP for Strange Premonitions

Chapter 5: RSVP for Strange Premonitions

* * *

_Don't worry about failure. My suggestion to each of you: worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try._

_-- Sherman Finesilver_

_

* * *

_"What if they don't receive it in time?" Ichigo asked worriedly, crossing her arms around her. "Or what if they never got it? Or--"

"For the last time," Ryou struggled to keep his voice steady, "I'm asking you to stop asking that stupid question!"

"I'm sorry," Ichigo sighed. "I guess I'm just nervous. About them all, I mean. It took you six months to build that machine thing--"

"Communication device," corrected Ryou.

Ichigo's voice rose in volume. "--and then we sent it a month after that, and they still haven't answered back and it's been two weeks now and--"

"Even if we sent it the day after you wanted them to come, you wouldn't have even had the location or details. You're just being stupid."

Ichigo glared, but said, "I guess you're right. But I really am nervous, about if they'll answer. Or get it or what... And about how..."

"'How' what, Ichigo?" Pudding asked with a slight laugh as she walked through the door. "Don't be worried."

"I can't help it!" She gulped. "I'm worried about how Kish will react, even if they don't come."

There was a pause.

"Good point," Ryou said.

"Shut up!" Ichigo yelled. "Aren't you supposed to be helping me out here? They haven't responded since we sent it two weeks ago, and if Kish even lays his hands on Masaya then I'll..."

"It'll be okay," Keiichiro told her, patting her on the back. "Even if Kish isn't happy with your wedding, there's nothing he can do about it."

"I object?" Ichigo offered, turning to face Keiichiro. "He could say, 'I object?'"

Mint returned from outside the changing area. "Closing time," she remarked.

"I knew it was a bad idea," Ichigo moaned, banging her head on the table. "Why didn't you guys talk me out of it?"

With a hint of confusion, Mint asked, "What's wrong with her?"

"Everything!" Ichigo cried.

"You need some tea," Mint said simply.

"No, I don't!" But the drink of blueberry tea was already in front of Ichigo and she smiled weakly in appreciation. "Thanks, Mint. Mm, smells good." She took a long sip, breathing and exhaling deeply. "I needed that."

Mint blushed slightly, running a hand through her hair. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. So what was the problem?"

Lettuce stuck her head outside of the door of the kitchen. "There's a problem?"

Pudding looked to Mint and back to Lettuce, touching the seat next to her for Lettuce to sit on. "Ichigo says that she's worried that the aliens, y'know, Kish and Pai and Tart--" a strange look crossed her face and she breathed once before continuing-- "didn't get the--"

There was a loud beeping noise, similar to that of an alarm.

"Invitation!" Ryou remarked, turning to walk briskly towards his computer.

"They responded?" Ichigo squealed, knocking her chair over in the process, and throwing her hands up in victory. "Woo hoo!"

Lettuce and Keiichiro smiled, but Mint rolled her eyes. Pudding seemed more or less the same, still exhibiting the same far off look in her eyes.

Ryou's face looked intent as his eyes scanned the computer. "They said--"

"Wait!" There was a loud thumping sound at the door. "Wait for us!"

Zakuro strolled along behind them casually, standing next to where Mint sat. Berry, dragging Tasuku along by the arm, grinned as the two walked in. "We wanna know!"

"They said," Ryou started until there was another knock.

"Again?!" Ichigo ran over to the door, pulling it open. "Sorry, but we're closed--"

"Ichigo."

Her eye widened, lips slowly turning into a smile. "Masaya...?"

"Hi, Ichigo."

She launched herself into his arms, hugging him as tightly as she could. "Oh, Masaya!"

The Mew Mews smiled, shouting out their hellos.

"Hey, Masaya--"

"Long time no see--"

"Marrying Ichigo, eh?"

"It looks like," Ichigo grinned over their calls, dizzy with delight, "the aliens responded back!"

Masaya smiled gently at her, fingering a lock of her hair. He kissed her on the lips, and Ichigo felt her heart swoop before Ryou cleared his throat. Ichigo glared at him. "Jerk," she muttered.

"Shh," Masaya calmed her, laughing quietly.

"Like I was saying," Ryou said, "before Masaya came in," he smiled at Ichigo's fiancée, "they said... No."

"What?!" Ichigo cried. "What do you mean they said no? Why?"

"No," Ryou repeated slowly, "_Pai s_aid. _He_ responded back for everyone..."

"You are such a loser, Ryou," Ichigo growled under her breath.

"'... Hello Ichigo, Mew Mews and Friends. We would be honored to attend your wedding. We are very excited, and would also like to know how you managed to contact us. We will be on planet Earth to attend the wedding within the week.'"

"They can come!" Ichigo shrieked.

"They can... come?" Lettuce murmured thinking of Pai, wondering if he was still the same or had changed as she touched the bridge of her glasses.

"Zakuro, they're coming!" Mint said.

"I know. We haven't seen them in a long time."

"Yes!" Berry giggled, kissing Tasuku on the nose. "I finally get to figure out who they are!" Tasuku laughed as well as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Tart..." Pudding sighed, fingering the locket fastened around her neck. "I haven't seen him for a while..."

"Well," Keiichiro said to Ryou, "we have a lot to do."

"Yes, we do. Especially since they're coming within the week."

"What?" Ichigo said, wrenching her hand from Masaya's and walking up to Ryou. "What do you mean they're coming within the week?"

"Didn't you even listen to me?" Ryou snapped back, ignoring his audience. "They said they're coming within the week."

"Wait," Ichigo said, "our wedding is in a year!"

"Ichigo," Masaya started, "it's okay, they can come early."

"But Masaya..."

"It's okay."

"Well," Ichigo smiled, "I guess we get to spend more time with them then, but why would they come so early?"

Ryou shrugged.

Ichigo gulped. "Oh no."

"What is it?" Masaya asked worriedly. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I guess," she looked down at her feet, "but I still have that feeling."

"What feeling?" Lettuce asked.

"Okay, so, I just have this feeling that Kish..." She paused, taking a huge breath before the words spilled out in a rush. "... That he isn't going to like the idea of me marrying Masaya at all, and I would never marry Masaya because he would keep trying to destroy our wedding and our marriage and..." Seeing everyone's blank and concerned stares, she laughed shrilly. "I don't know. I know it's stupid, but I just can't get the feeling out of my head."

"No worries," Zakuro said. "You're probably just worrying yourself over their reactions too much."

"Yeah, Ichigo," Lettuce agreed.

Ryou sighed impatiently and everyone glanced toward him, waiting for him to say something. "Okay, everyone, enough chitchat. Clear out," he barked, "it's closing time. Out!"

"Come on, Ichigo, I'll walk you home," Masaya said, putting an arm around her.

"Okay," she replied happily, "just one sec..."

He kissed her again. "I'll wait for you outside."

Pudding grinned after Masaya left. "You guys are adorable together!"

Ichigo smiled and blushed, feeling out of it despite being excited to walk home with Masaya.

"What is it, Ichigo?" Lettuce asked.

"I still have this feeling," Ichigo said. "I, I don't know what but..." She shook her head in an attempt to get all strange premonitions out of her head.

"It'll be fine, Ichigo," Pudding assured her. "Everything will work out for the better in the end and everything will be okay."

"She's right," Lettuce agreed, placing an arm on Ichigo's shoulder.

"Yeah, I guess so, thanks," Ichigo said and waved, skip in her step at the thought of walking home with Masaya. "Bye, everyone! See you tomorrow!"

"Bye!" Pudding giggled as Lettuce waved back to her.

"I'm just being silly," Ichigo told herself as she headed towards the exit. "It's not like they mean anything anyway..." Ignoring the strange chill in the air, Ichigo smoothed her hair down and dismissed all thoughts to the back of her head. "... Right?"

* * *

**A/N:** So why are they coming early anyway? Read on to find out! :) Hm, will Ichigo's premonitions come true? And how bad are they, anyway? Find out in the next chapter, when the aliens come back to earth!

Favoriting is very much appreciated, and so are reviews. See guys? I told you I'd update sooner, and I did! The more reviews, the quicker the updates. :D Please make my day and review! I'd love to have your input! Many thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far-- please continue! Thanks, everyone!!

~ Bunny


	6. Chapter 6: Long Time No See

Chapter 6: Long Time No See

* * *

_Often it is the most deserving people who cannot helping loving those who destroy them._

– _Herman Hesse

* * *

_

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"Are we there yet...?"

"No..."

"Are we there yet?!"

"No, Tart!" Kish shouted. "I swear, if you say that one more time then I'll break your scrawny neck!"

Tart pretended to be frightened. "Oh no, what will I do?"

Kish bared his teeth, clutching the arms of his seat to keep from jumping at his annoying fellow passenger. "Just be quiet, please," he hissed, "that's all I want right now."

Tart rolled his eyes, feigning an innocent expression. He whistled and Kish narrowed his eyes, promising to carry out his threat.

"Ah," Pai commented dryly, "silence. How nice."

Tart rolled his eyes, fiddling with his thumbs. Kish kept his eyes on his younger friend until he was certain that no words would be uttered from his mouth. Closing his eyes, Kish went into deep thought. It was a rare occurrence for him, and his thoughts scared him slightly because they all consisted of one thing:Ichigo.

It worried him, and it was out of character for him to worry, that Ichigo was marrying Masaya. It made him angry, and for the first time in a long time, he realized that he still loved her as deeply as when he had left the planet. Kish worried that he wouldn't have enough self control to allow her to marry Masaya. He clenched his fists together. Why did she have to marry him? How could she possibly be happy with him? He was sure that she would be a lot better with him instead of her boyfriend.

No,_ fiancée. _

Kish snorted, regarding a stern look from Pie.

Honestly, how could two people still like each other after all that time? How could Ichigo still have feelings for Masaya, that... That guy! Then again, Kish still loved her. Still! And it was killing him.

It had taken Kish merely a month to paste on a happy expression... Why shouldn't he have been happy? Their planet was now a paradise and everything seemed perfect as could be. But he only wanted one thing: Ichigo. And he couldn't have her.

Kish had almost been happy when the Betrayers had come after five years of harmony for his planet. It had finally given him something to take his mind off of her.

The Betrayers, as his people had christened them, were known as friendly until they attacked. Once an ally and now an enemy, and were immensely jealous of the their safe haven. The raiders attacked their home and forced its occupants to live in a constant fear. Only a few words could describe them once discovered to be enemies: dangerous, reckless and aggressive. They continued to attack the planet, almost forcing his people to move back underground to the darkness and dim. The atmosphere was nearly destroyed, the ozone layer barely present after their first attack. But the Mew Aqua, the miraculous gift, continued to replenish the planet with water and greenery. Nature was still as steadily growing as ever.

It only angered the Betrayers even more.

Kish and his two friends had known exactly what they must do to annihilate them: fight back. At first, they had been winning. Victory seemed soon.

And then they released their secret weapon. Kish did not know how they discovered it. He did not even know what it was. All that he knew was that it was slowly destroying their planet, moving past the Mew Aqua's protection.

Even though Kish realized that the fate of his nation was in his hands, Ichigo marrying Masaya seemed of more importance to him. It was silly, he knew, but he couldn't stand the thought. _Oh, Ichigo... What will I do if--_

"Hey, Kish?"

He straightened up with a start, stretching his long arms over his head and snapping out of it immediately. "Yes, Tart?"

"Are we there yet?"

_"Argh!"_ Kish flew over the seat, hands outstretched to move around Tart's neck.

Pai sighed, not even trying to break up the fight.

"Uncle, uncle!" Tart hollered and gagged, and Kish didn't loosen his grip in the slightest until Tart turned from blue to purple. It was quiet after the outburst, but one thought remained in everyone's mind throughout the ride towards earth.

"This is going to be a long trip."

* * *

"Oh, Masha," Ichigo giggled happily, brushing her hair in quick strokes. "They're going to be here any minute!"

Masha tweeted excitedly in reply. "Any minute! Any minute!"

Ichigo had to admit to herself, Masha was getting old... Seven years old. He was still, of course, the flying pink puffball he always was, but Ichigo regretted not giving him to Ryou for an update last month.

"Ah, done," she sighed, giggling once more.

The doorbell rang, twice after Ichigo did not respond the first time. "Masaya's here! Let's go, Masha!" Outside, he smiled, kissing her lightly on the lips. "Masaya..." Ichigo breathed.

He smiled back, looking at his watch, and placed an arm around her waist. "Ichigo, we need to hurry, or we'll be late."

"I'm always late," Ichigo giggled, shaking her head and puckering her lips. "Kiss me again."

The walk to the café was short as Ichigo hurried alongside Masaya. She smiled to herself because the aliens would be here soon... In only about an hour. Ichigo hummed happily, swinging her purse from side to side as she walked with a spring in her step.

"Hey, Ichigo," Ryou smirked once she arrived, "I think this is the first time you're not late. You're the first one here, actually." He turned to Masaya, saying, "You really are a good influence on her."

Ichigo didn't even blink. "It's just that I'm so excited they'll be here soon!"

Keiichiro's eyes twinkled. "We all are, Ichigo. It was a good idea of yours to invite them."

"I know!" She giggled happily.

Over the sound of the breeze, there was a sharp cry from Masha of "Intruder alert!"

The four froze, surveying their surroundings. No one was in sight. There was a slight rustling sound, a movement and...

"Hi, everyone!" Pudding grinned, fingering a curl of her hair. Lettuce walked calmly behind her, nose tucked behind a novel.

"Masha..." Ichigo groaned.

"I told you that you should have given him to me for an update," Ryou tsked.

Mint came soon after, followed by Berry and Tasuku. Zakuro came last, apologizing that she could not hold off the paparazzi for a long while.

Each time someone came, Masha shouted an intruder alert warning. "Oh shush," Ichigo told him.

"I'm really excited to see them!" Ichigo smiled once everyone arrived. "Kish... And Pai..." Lettuce mustered a meek smile. "And Tart, too, of course, although he did call me an old hag... That midget!" Pudding's grin faded fast as soon as Tart's name was spoken, but Ichigo was too overjoyed to notice. "I mean, I just can't believe they'll really be here! It's so exciting! And, then, of course, everyone should get along so well. I don't know why we didn't contact them sooner..." Ichigo rambled and Masaya laughed, hugging her.

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!" Masha cried.

"Oh honestly, Masha, you're just getting old," Ichigo sighed from Masaya's shoulder. "You thought that there was an intruder when Pudding and Lettuce came."

There was a rustling sound behind the tree and Zakuro, the tallest, looked up. "What's that?"

Pudding's eyes stopped twinkling. "Who's there?"

"Show yourself." Ryou narrowed his eyes, glaring.

There was a muffled shout, and a lean figure fell from the tree. Ichigo took one glance at the purse in her hand. "Ichigo!" Masaya shouted, holding her back, but she shook him gently off.

She appeared startled, aiming to throw her purse at the intruder but something was off. She gazed into his eyes and gasped, crouching down to see him clearer. Ichigo cleared the hair, a bright shade of green, out of his eyes. "K... Kish?!"

He grinned. "Hey, Kitten, long time no see, eh?"

* * *

**A/N:** Hey!

They're hereeee! Dun dun dun... Okay, well not really. Sorry the chapter's short, but the action's going to start up real soon. As in the next two chapters pretty much! This chapter's kind of a bridging between it and the next. :)

But, hey, it looks like the Betrayers are the reason that Tart hasn't seen Pudding for the last two years! But, ouch, Pudding doesn't know that does she...? Oh no!

And why the heck was Kish in a tree?! It looks like Kish is having second thoughts about Ichigo and his feelings for her... Is he going to be able to control his reemerging feelings to let Ichigo marry Masaya? Who knows...?

~ Bunny


	7. Chapter 7: Started From

Chapter 7: Started From

* * *

_The hardest thing to do is watch the one you love, love someone else._

_-- Anonymous

* * *

_

There was an interesting story behind why Kish was in a tree.

He just had to see Ichigo the second they landed. Why shouldn't he? Kish, remembering where the groups were supposed to meet, had hurried to Café Mew Mew. And he sat there, waiting. For an hour. For her. For Ichigo.

And then Ichigo had arrived. With Masaya.

Kish had growled in his hiding place, and that stupid pink puffball of hers shouted out warning alarms. It seemed as if every time Kish dared to move, that flying toy she called "Masha" would beep. And then, he fell. Fell at Ichigo's feet.

He was not expecting his heart to hurt, but it hurt. Looking into her brown eyes, watching her surprise and concern for his fall, it hurt. It hurt him more than the fall itself. Because in one moment, he realized he wasn't over her in the slightest. That his feelings hadn't changed like he thought they had.

He was right back where he started from.

It hurt watching Ichigo in Masaya's arms, watching her kiss him. Watching her be so happy with him...

But wasn't that what he had wanted? Her happiness?

Wasn't that all that mattered in the end...?

* * *

"Where is that idiot?" Tart complained, throwing his hands up in disgust. "We just landed, Kiah disappears to apparently the middle of nowhere for who knows why, and we're supposed to meet the Mew Mews at the café in half an hour... What are we gonna do, Pai?"

"I don't know," Pai said, "but we need to find him soon. If not, it seems as if we will be visiting them without him."

"Ouch," Tart whispered. "Harsh..." Soon after he murmured the words, there was a rippling in the air. "Kish!" Tart shouted happily. "Pai! _Pai! _ Kish's here! He's back. Can we go now?"

Pai turned to face the two: an utterly excited Tart and seemingly sad Kish. "What's the matter, Kish?"

"It's not Ichigo, is it?" Tart sighed. "It's always her..."

"No, it's not her," Kish snapped, then cheering up. "But, hey, Tart... You get to see your girlfriend again!"

Tart turned red, and began to object, when Pai cut in, "Kish, what happened?"

Kish shuffled his feet, grinning as he looked up to answer. "I saw them again. The Mew Mews. And Ichigo!"

Tart rolled his eyes. "I knew it was her..."

Kish shot him daggers, but Pai appeared not to notice as he simply replied, "We should go see them now then."

"I told them I was coming to get you guys." Kish nodded his head.

Tart sneaked a grin to himself at the mention of visiting. Pudding! He had to see Pudding, he hadn't seen her in two years, he had to tell her everything and then maybe, just maybe...

"And remember," Pai informed them, interrupting Tart's sudden case of daydreaming, "we agreed that we can not tell them anything."

"What?!" Tart cried.

Kish shook his head. "For once, midget..."

"I'm not a midget!"

"... I agree with you completely. Pai, what's going through your head right now?"

Pai sent Kish a look of concern, and his voice rose in volume as much as his emotions permitted. "We agreed, on the basis of leaving, that we can not tell them anything. That they should not be informed of a single thing about the occurrences happening on our planet and--"

"But, Pai!" Tart whined.

"Not 'but's, Taruto," Pai sent his searing look in his direction and Tart gulped because Pai only used his full name when he was being wholly serious. "We all agreed that the Mew Mews should be unaware of our current situation...."

"But what am I supposed to tell Pudding?!" Tart cried. "I haven't seen or spoken with her in two years and... And... And now she's going to hate me! And it's all your fault!"

"To be truthful," Pai informed him, "I, honestly, don't care."

"Pai," Kish started.

"And I'm ashamed of you, as well, Kisshu," Pai counteracted, shaking a finger at him, "because it was, after all, your idea in the first place."

Kish snorted. "What? Liar!"

"Do you not remember?" Pai raised an eyebrow. "Because, if I remember correctly, you said that it was because of the fact that they may worry too much."

Kish sighed, remembrance in his eyes, then reached over to pull Pai's ear. "Yeah, yeah, I remember now. Let's go."

The corners of Pai's mouth twitched. "Good. Now that this ridiculous matter has been settled--"

"What do you mean I can't tell Pudding?!" Tart exploded, rising into the air in anger. "What the hell am I supposed to tell her? 'Oh, sorry, Pudding, I ditched you these past two years because, oh gee, I don't know, the ships were disabled?!'"

"Don't curse," Kish rolled his eyes.

"You curse all the time!" Tart shouted.

Kish shrugged. "That's true."

"Make up a lie," Pai told him, still exhibiting the same uninterested gaze.

"Yeah, I know that's the smart thing to do, genius! And for such a smart guy, you can be pretty stupid, " Tart bellowed. " But nothing is a good enough explanation for her...! She's not going to take 'unable to access ships' or 'Pai said no' or 'Kish threw a fit because we told him he couldn't see Ichigo and broke the control panel'--"

"Hey!"

"-- because she's not an idiot, Pai! So, what am I supposed to say?" Tart fumed, crossing his arms in anger.

"I'm going to ignore your comment and give you some advice, Tart. Tell her," Kish remarked quietly, "you met a girl." When he did not receive any answer, but a shocked expression from Tart, Kish continued, "and tell her that you think you love this girl. And that you'll do anything for her..." Tart's jaw dropped. "... And that that's the reason you didn't want to see Pudding anymore. Because it endangered your relationship with your new girlfriend."

Tart didn't say anything at first, and then hastily moaned, "I can't do that! It'll destroy my relationship with Pudding forever!"

"That's the point!" Kish snapped. "You want to end your relationship with her, don't you? You don't want to end up like me, do you? Because you know what I just realized?! I just realized that I still love her! I still love Ichigo!" His volume rose. "And she's getting married!"

Pai looked blank. Tart gulped.

Inspired, Kish continued passionately, "So don't you get it?! You're going to end up like me: in love with some girl who is going to move on to some normal guy and leave you behind. That's what's going to happen to you, Tart, what's happening to me right now! You don't want that, do you?!"

"Kish," Pai said, "calm down, you are overacting."

"I am not overacting!" Kish yelled. "I'm pointing out the truth! And, now, because I can't stand the thought of her marrying him more than the day we even left that planet, I'm right back where I started from! And there's only one thing I can do: stand back and watch her get her happily ever after because if I don't, then I'm the villain! Again!"

Tart looked up at Kish, biting his lip. "Fight for her."

"Excuse me?! Don't you get it?" Kish huffed angrily. "I can't! I can't fight for her anymore! She's getting married...! Married, Tart? Do you understand that concept?"

"Yeah, I do," Tart bared his teeth, "but don't _you_ get it?"

"All I get is that she's marrying him, and not me."

"But," Tart managed a short smile, "she's not married to him."

"What?"

"She's not married to him _yet_."

Slowly, Kish began to smile. It started out as a flicker at the corner of his mouth and then a full blown grin. "Tart! You genius! That's the answer to all my problems! I can still get to her...!"

Pai's nostrils flared. "I forbid you, both of you, to interfere what is more than necessary in the lives of the Mews."

"But," Kish mentioned sneakily, nudging Pai on the shoulder, "that means that you won't be allowed to get, uh, friendly with the green Mew Mew... Lettuce, is it?"

Pai froze, before quickly replying, "We are not going to do any of the following... Tell them what is going on with our planet." There was silence, and Pai signaled that he was done with a sigh.

"That's it?" Tart asked, shocked.

"That is it."

"I noticed," Kish grinned, "you didn't mention interfering in their lives."

Pai replied pointedly, "Kish, at times, you have a light of reason."

"I knew you'd see things my way," Kish said happily.

* * *

"I guess I can't call you a midget anymore," Ichigo sighed, talking to Tart. "You're taller than me now."

"I know," he grinned, "but I can still call you an old hag!"

"Hey!" Ichigo shouted angrily, reaching up to smack him on the head, but Tart teleported away, close to where Pai and Lettuce were talking nervously. Pai ran a hand through his hair and Lettuce smiled slightly. "Get back here, you midget!" Ichigo yelled, waving a fist at him.

There was a chuckle, and the voice behind her said, "Sorry about that."

"Kish!" Ichigo smiled, turning around to hug him. As much as she hated to admit it, he had grown up well. In the light, he actually looked quite attractive. Surprisingly handsome, almost as good looking as Masaya. Maybe even a little more... She shook her head, annoyed at herself.

He grinned, amber eyes sparkling. "I missed you," he said, pecking her on the cheek.

Ichigo blushed slightly, looking to where Masaya was talking with Ryou and Keiichiro. Masaya smiled at her and waved. "How have you been?" She giggled, turning back to Kish.

"Pretty good," he said, "but I missed you. A lot."

"I missed you, too. We all did." She looked up to him. "Oh, whoa! You got a lot taller!"

It was true, Kish was at least a head taller than her. He reached down to ruffle her hair. "Well, Kitten--" Ichigo opened her mouth to correct him. "I mean, _Ichigo_, you didn't expect me to still stay the same did you?"

She shifted from side to side, surveying him. His clothing was more or less the same, but his face had evened out more. His golden eyes still playfully watched her, light dancing off of them, but they seemed wiser. The look behind his eyes was slightly older than she last remembered, but nothing could keep the mischievous glint out of them. And he had still, suddenly, turned amazing to look at... "Well, I guess I did expect you to stay the same," Ichigo said as a matter of fact.

"Don't worry, I'll still be the same around you." He stretched, his arms rising above him. Ichigo briefly noticed the newfound muscle in them before pushing the thought out of her head. Kish grinned. "Were you just checking me out?"

Ichigo's slapped him, turning red. "Did not."

"No, you did!" He smirked. "I don't mind though."

"Kish," Ichigo said warningly, "I'm getting married in almost a year."

He looked at her, not even bothering to shake his dismay out of his expression. "Yeah, I know, Kit-- _Ichigo_..."

Ichigo's next comment was drowned out by Pudding's laughter as it echoed in the air. She hugged Tart in an airtight hug. "Taru Taru! I... I missed you!"

"Don't call me that." Pudding's iron grip tightened around Tart and he grinned, making sure she could not see it, before teasing, "Well, I didn't miss you at all."

Pudding giggled again. "Then why else did you come?"

He paused, about to remind her of Ichigo's wedding invitation when he saw her golden locket. "Uh..."

She tapped his nose, corners of her eyes crinkling in mirth. "I knew it! To see me again, right? And, hey, how come you haven't visited me in a while?"

Tart's eyes widened. "I--"

"No, wait, don't tell me yet!" Pudding smiled. "I'll guess!"

"I have a girlfriend," Taruto blurted, thinking of Kish's advice.

There was a crashing sound, and a frazzled looking Ichigo, hand mid way to smacking someone, and overly confident, but apologizing, Kish looked over to them. "I need to leave." Pudding looked blank, and she picked up her backpack that had dropped to the grass. "I, uh, I... I have to be home. Nice to..." She mustered a weak smile. "Nice to see you again, Kish... Pai... T-Tart..." She looked to the brunette alien, biting her lip, and ran off.

Tart sighed, and Kish glanced at him knowingly. Ichigo looked to Kish, and he stared back at her. "Tart, what did you say to--" Ichigo began angrily, and was interrupted.

There was a loud scream.

* * *

**A/N: ** Oh no, cliffie! The start of the main action, fighting wise, will be coming up next!

I think that it's never once been mentioned in the anime or manga that "Tart" is short for "Taruto", "Kish" is short for "Kisshu", and I decided that I preferred "Pai" over "Pie"... But I really liked the concept that they were so I've kept that in.

Ooh, Ichigo and Kish. Looks like they've got a bit of some starting chemistry now that Kish is no longer considered her enemy... I wonder how this is going to work out...? :D

Poor Pudding! She doesn't know the truth, but will it all be cleared up? And soon? Because Tart and Pudding both seemed to really like each other...

Thanks to everyone for reading, reviewing and staying tuned in! You guys are the best! :)

~ Bunny


	8. Chapter 8: Wuah! It Ate My Ring!

Chapter 8: Wuah! It Ate My Ring!

* * *

_There's nothing in this world so sweet as love. And next to love the sweetest thing is hate._

_-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

* * *

_

"Pudding!" Tart gasped, his eyes wide open, before breaking out into a run.

"Tart!" Kish called after him, and the group began to run in the direction the brunette alien had disappeared to.

Ichigo bit her lip, clutching her palms so hard that she drew blood. She could barely see in the bright sun and squinted, sprinting ahead of the group until she saw where Pudding was. She had two long gashes down her side and was being held back by Tart. Ichigo felt her heart speed up a bit and rounded the corner, breathing heavily.

"Ichigo!" Kish yelled at the same time as Masaya. The two looked at each other for a split second and Kish shouted, "Ichigo, don't! Ichigo!" Finally, Ichigo was around the corner and turned around, coming face to face with...

"What is that thing?!" She cried. The first thing that Ichigo noticed, the first fact that ran through her head, was that it was big. Large. It was a monster, and it was ugly. And the second thing Ichigo noticed was that it was coming toward her, short arms stretched out, reaching out to grab her with a hideous sound escaping from the large mouth. Ichigo got a clear view of yellow teeth, each about the size of her head. It was so close that she could smell the monster's breath, and she felt faint.

Her left hand flew into the mouth of the beast and Ichigo screamed, pulling it out. Her hand suddenly felt light. "It ate... My ring?" She said, confused, gazing at her bare hand. "It ate my ring," she murmured, touching the place where the ring, her prized possession, had just sat.

"I can't believe this!" Ichigo screamed, just as the monster went to snatch her off the ground. "Did that thing seriously just eat my ring?!"

And suddenly, so unexpectedly she gasped, strong arms wrapped around her. A voice hissed, "Kitten! What do you think you're doing?!," and the grip around her tightened.

Ichigo twisted to face the owner of the voice. "Kish, what... What is that thing?! Wuah! _It ate my ring!_"

The beast roared, lunging toward them. Kish quickly teleported away, and Ichigo became aware that his grip was just a little too tight. Her ribs hurt. "You're hurting me," she said weakly.

His grip relaxed, but just barely. "You scared me, Kitten. Be more careful! Don't you know that you could get killed?"

Ichigo took notice of her surroundings. "Kish, where are we? Why are we on top of this building?"

"Ichigo," Kish breathed, "I need to explain something to you. Why we haven't visited you guys at all." He took a deep breath, hesitation clear in his eyes.

"What is it?" Ichigo asked urgently. "Please tell me what's going on."

And then there was that ear-shattering shriek, so wild and untamed Ichigo felt uneasy even thinking of it.

"They need us," Kish sighed, upset by the interruption. "Ichigo, you need to fight."

"No way!" She snapped. "What do you think?" And then, merely moments later, Mew Ichigo stood in front of him. Slowly, Kish smiled.

"Go get 'em, cat girl," he laughed.

Ichigo rolled her eyes and giving in to the impulse to stick her tongue out at him, she poked her tongue out before jumping off the building. Ichigo landed neatly on her feet, and a short jet of air escaped her lips. _How can one thing destroy so much area in so little time?, _Ichigo thought. The trees, once large and tall, were smashed into chunks of what once was bark. Somehow, a large patch of grass had caught on fire. A fire hydrant nearby had been broken, water spurting everywhere. And then, her vision blurred from the smoke, she saw a figure. A very familiar figure... "Masaya!" Ichigo shrieked, running toward his unconscious figure. "Masaya!"

"No!" Mint shouted, grabbing her around her stomach.

Ichigo turned to face Mint, who was already in her Mew form. "No! I need to help Masaya!"

"Ichigo, as our leader, you have to help us! Tokyo is in trouble."

Ichigo sighed, casting one look toward Masaya before running towards the monster. Zakuro was currently battling against it, accompanied by Lettuce and Berry. In the distance, Pai raced towards it with his weapon raised high and Kish had recently arrived on the scene, attempting to distract it. Ichigo couldn't spot Tart or Pudding anywhere, and prayed that the two were safe. Ryou, Keiichiro and Tasuku were trying to help victims of the disaster, and Ichigo was thankful that there were only a few since the area was relatively unoccupied at this time of day.

But, she realized, the creature was strong because no one's attacks were helping to eliminate it. And what was worse was that, somehow, the creature seemed to be depleting the ground of it's resources. The rivers had stopped flowing, dead fish flopping hopelessly in the muddy bank. Trees were being ripped from the ground. A crushed cherry blossom petal floated by Ichigo's face, and she was suddenly reminded why she needed to stop the creature. "Look," she said loudly to the beast and it turned its burning red eyes towards her. She gulped. Angrily, Ichigo continued, "I don't know what you are. Or who you are. Or why you're here..." Her voice loudened. "But how dare you hurt Pudding and my Masaya! … AND I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ATE MY RING!"

With a look to her teammates, Ichigo shouted, "For the future of the earth, I will be of service, nya!," before screaming out her attack. There was a flash of rainbow colored light, and Ichigo smiled because she was glad that the monster had finally been defeated; it had sunk deeply into a large canyon it created in the streets. "Finally," Ichigo sighed, turning away from the monster and towards her teammates. "Man, that thing was strong did you see-- What?" Their eyes remained focused on an object in the distance.

"Ichigo, move!" Lettuce screamed. Ichigo spun around, eyes widening.

The monster twitched.

Ichigo bit her lip as it rose from the ground, with barely a scratch, and looking straight at her, charged. Zakuro stepped in front of Ichigo, keeping it back with her attacks. Ichigo sighed shakily in relief. And then, lifting an arm, the monster threw Zakuro out of the way. She slumped against the fire hydrant, water pouring over her.

"ZAKURO!" Mint screamed shrilly. Her eyes flashed, and she bared her teeth. "You hurt Zakuro!"

"Mint..." Ichigo began, trying to calm her down slightly.

"Ribbon Mint Arrow!"

The attack bounced off the creature as easily as the others, and Mint screamed in disgust. As easily as it knocked Zakuro, the monster bent down to Mint and threw her away. Pai and Lettuce rushed in front of Ichigo, Lettuce briefly smiling to her. Then Masaya's eyes fluttered open, and he gazed up at Ichigo. "Ichigo..."

"Masaya!" She cried.

He coughed. "Ichigo..."

"Oh, Masaya! I was so worried about you! Are you okay?"

"Go... Fight," he smiled weakly. Masaya slumped back to the ground.

"Masaya!" Ichigo shook him, but he remained silent and she assured herself, "It's okay, he's alive."

She sighed before rushing off to help her remaining teammates. Thankfully, Lettuce and Pai seemed to be doing a pretty good job in keeping it at bay. "Ichigo! Use your powers!" Pai instructed her in a loud tone.

"Ribbon Strawberry Check!" The monster moved back slightly, roaring.

"That's it!" Kish grinned, looking down at her. "Keep it up, Ichigo! That's my kitten!"

Ichigo glared at him for his comment and shouted her attack again, just as the creature jumped over Pai and Lettuce. The ground under them collapsed, smoke rising in the air. Ichigo became aware that she couldn't see anything. "Huh? Where is everyone?" And then, through the smoke, the monster stood in front of Ichigo. "No," she whimpered, yelling, "MASAYA!" The short arms stretched out, aiming around her neck. "AHHHH!" A claw scrapped across her neck, and she grimaced. Ichigo was so sure she was going to die. And she hadn't even married Masaya yet!

"ICHIGO!" Kish screamed from somewhere behind her. "ICHIGO!"

Her vision blurred, stung by tears. "I'm sorry..." She whispered. "I'm so sorry everyone."

"ICHIGO!" Kish shouted, arms around her again, trying to pull her back. The grasp tightened... "Scream out your attack, Ichigo!" He yelled in her ear. "Now!"

She coughed desperately, "S-strawberry Check Surprise!"

And then, there it was lying on the ground. Ichigo blinked, hands still held around her neck. "Wha--?"

Kish breathed into her shoulder before coughing. "You're okay, it's okay, you killed it. We made it." The gray smoke slowly began to vanish, and the ruins started to stand out. Ichigo was barely able to make out figures, coughing.

"Masaya!" She cried, rushing towards him, breaking out of Kish's embrace. She knelt down behind him, taking his head in her lap. "Oh, Masaya, you'll be okay. It's okay..."

Kish bit his lip, eyes filling with hot tears of anger. "Masaya," he growled.

Ryou, dirt covering one half of his face, turned to an emotionless but distressed Pai, worried Tart and furious Kish. "What's going on?" He asked. Pai stared blankly back at him. Ryou coughed, eyes blazing.

One word escaped his mouth: "Explain."

* * *

**A/N:** Uh-oh!

Well, it looks like Ichigo isn't too happy it ate her ring... I wonder how she'll get that thing back, she was really fond of it. Well, at least she killed it... ;)

Keep the reviews coming, you guys! Reviews= love. :) Stay tuned for next time, when some truth will finally be revealed (and discovering how Ichigo gets her ring back...)

~ Bunny


	9. Chapter 9: Explaining

Chapter 9: Explaining

* * *

_I met a young man who was wounded in love, I met another man who was wounded in hatred._

_-- Bob Dylan

* * *

_

"Ichigo," Lettuce sighed, "can we go in now?"

"We've been looking for over an hour, Kitten," Kish whined.

It was true: Ichigo, after making sure everyone (especially Masaya) was safe and okay, had dragged everyone who was healthy back outside to find her ring. "It's here somewhere, I know it!" Ichigo had declared determinedly. But now things started to seem hopeless; the search had been going on for about an hour, and the sun was beginning to set.

"Ichigo," she corrected, barely looking up to glance at Kish.

"Ichigo," he repeated.

"Please?" Lettuce sighed again, repeating her request of, "Can we go in now?"

Ichigo's eyes gleamed, and she stood up straight to strike a pose, causing Kish to chuckle. "Nope! Never! Not until we find my ring!"

From off to the side, Mint suggested sarcastically, "Maybe you can try looking in the throat."

Ichigo brightened up immediately, ignoring the fact that Mint had done little to help. "Good idea!"

"Ichigo," Ryou snapped, "we have more important things to find than your ring!"

"I can't hear you!" She shouted, almost in spite of him. "I'm trying to find my precious ring!"

"Take a break," Ryou scoffed. "Come on, team meeting everyone." Ichigo didn't budge. "You too," Ryou called.

"Come on, Ichi--ten," Kish said. "I mean, uh, Ichigo."

"No, not yet, I..." Ichigo's hand clamped around something slimy. It was circular, smooth and she dug her hand deeper inside.

"Ichigo!" Kish shouted in alarm. "Get your hand out of there!"

"Got it! My ring!" Ichigo cried, holding it out triumphantly. She hugged a bemused Kish and began running forward to hug Mint. "It's my ring!"

"That's disgusting!" Mint proclaimed disdainfully. "You're covered in monster slime! Don't touch me!"

Ichigo kissed her ring. "Oh, beautiful."

"Ew!" Mint bellowed.

"Girls," Keiichiro laughed.

Sobering up, she placed the ring back on her left hand. Ichigo asked, "How's Pudding?"

"I'm fine!" Pudding chirped happily, walking outdoors from the café as Tart held her arm. "Just a scratch!" She began to sway, falling into Tart's arms. "Ooh, I'm dizzy..." She remarked, attempting to push Tart away with as much vigor as she could muster.

"It took a good amount of blood from her," Pai explained while walking out behind them, "but she should recover within the next couple of days with little more than a scar or so." Pai stopped promptly, concern bubbling deep inside him once he saw Kish, Ichigo and Lettuce by the creature.

"You!" Ryou said, oblivious to Pai's concern, "I demand some answers from you."

"Look, Pai! I found my ring!" Ichigo cheered, waving at him.

Ryou continued, "This...!" He gestured toward the creature, long cut across its scaly side from Ichigo's finding of her ring. "This thing, I don't know what it is, arrived just hours after you appeared."

"I would prefer," Pai replied, "to speak inside."

The group assembled in Ryou's lab. Berry, frightened by the monster, was being comforted by Tasuku. Mint asked Zakuro if her bruise on her back had stopped hurting and Masaya, bandage around his head, placed an arm around Ichigo as she nuzzled into his shoulder. Unobserved, Kish glared at the couple, clenching and pausing to unclench his fists only to repeat the cycle. Pudding appeared half awake, being supported by Tart and trying to push him away to no avail. "Pudding," Tart argued, "I'll help you."

"No," she muttered, clenching her teeth, "you have a girlfriend..."

"Well, we're waiting," Ryou demanded, moving to sit by Keiichiro.

Pai cleared his throat, and Kish and Tart turned to stand by him. "We did not want to tell you," Pai began.

Kish snorted, rolling his eyes "He didn't want to tell you. We were all for it."

Tart nodded his head furiously. "Yeah, and because of you Kish, Pud--" He went to open his mouth, and Kish clamped a hand over it and motioned for Pai to continue.

"We," Pai started, "call them the Betrayers."

"The Betrayers?" Lettuce asked warily.

Pai moved to face her, eyes piercing, and Lettuce gulped. "The Betrayers."

Ryou nodded his head for Pai to continue. "Everything started two years ago," Pai began again.

"And, that's why, Pud--" Tart nearly shouted.

Kish hissed and clamped his other hand over his mouth. Tart bit him, and he clenched his teeth. "Continue, Pai," Kish grimaced in pain.

Pai's voice rang out as he spoke. "The Mew Aqua... worked better than even we had suspected. Within moments after releasing it, Terra--"

"Our planet," Kish explained over Tart's muffled cries.

"What's it like?" Ichigo asked suddenly, holding onto Masaya's arm. "Is it like earth?"

"Beautiful," Kish grinned, "just as good as earth, now that I think of it... But it's gorgeous." Ichigo smiled happily, something Kish took notice of. "It's gorgeous," he repeated, adding under his breath, "just like you, Kitten."

"What?" Ichigo asked flatly, unconvinced if she had just heard that wrong. Masaya had looked up and seemed to have overheard his comment.

"Oh nothing," Kish said, ignoring everyone in the room but Ichigo. "But there are so many oceans, Kitten, you'd really love it there... And there's flowers, flowers you've never seen before. And there's so many trees. It's really colorful, too, but there's a lot of green and some pink..."

"As I was saying," Pai said, "within moments of releasing it, Terra became magnificent. It was incredible, and we felt almost as if we were home on earth."

"We're glad," Ryou said, smiling.

"We are glad, too," Pai replied, almost smiling himself. "We lived in peace, harmony and happiness for five years. We had five perfect years of serenity. We ventured off and made many friends, numerous allies, with other nations, one of which was the Betrayers." Lettuce leaned forward, genuinely interested, and shifted slightly in her seat. Pai cleared his throat and continued. "They were our closest ally. At the time they attacked, we were actually planning a pact that would inhibit us both to use each other's resources. But, they became jealous... Intensively jealous of our home, because it had grown into a magnificent paradise. They began to attack, and it was at first unnoticed. They infiltrated our planet, and began to attack from the inside..." Keiichiro took in a sharp intake of breath. "I know," Pai agreed, "it is horrible. They attacked the day we were planning on visiting you, in fact."

"Why didn't you contact us?" Zakuro asked.

"We were planning to, about a few months into battle, but we decided that we should not involve you."

"You should have!" Ichigo declared passionately. "We could have helped you!"

"I personally debated on the matter," Pai replied, "but decided that relations would be too strained."

Ryou merely motioned, once again, for Pai to continue. "Don't worry about contacting us ever again. We're friends, aren't we?"

"Yes," Pai said, almost smiling.

"Anyway, keep going."

"They attacked," Pai repeated grimly, "but we were winning, slowly pushing them out of our planet and back to their own. As a result, attacks became less frequent and we were certain that victory was soon." Ryou smiled briefly.

"That's not it though," Kish spat bitterly, "because they developed a secret weapon."

"What?" Mint looked confused.

"That's right," Kish said, gazing hardly at the wall in front of him, "they have a secret weapon. I don't know how they did it, or what it is, but it's destroying our planet."

"You see," Pai explained, "after every attack, the Mew Aqua would continue to replenish our soil. Disaster never stuck for long. Surely, you all must have realized that areas with Mew Aqua sprinkled over them are currently thriving."

"It occurred to us," Ryou replied slowly, "but until now we thought it was a coincidence."

Pai shook his head. "It only angered them even more that our planet continued to thrive and grow. And then they developed something that has gone even past the Mew Aqua and is turning our planet into the wasteland it once was before. The process is slow, but steady. Their intent is clear. In a recent broadcast to those, us, living on Terra, they said 'If we can not possess the planet, then no living creature can.'"

"Oh no," Lettuce murmured.

"You shouldn't have come," Ryou said. "They're attacking your planet right now."

"Of course they should have come!" Ichigo scolded Ryou, offended. "It's my wedding!"

"As a matter of fact, things have been doing reportedly much better in the short week since we left," Pai informed the group, "In the daily reports sent to me at my request, life is beginning to thrive again and the Mew Aqua has begun to work once more."

"That's great!" Masaya said animatedly, and the group began to chat happily.

"That was my first thought," Pai spoke loudly, "but I have leads that the Betrayers have followed us here." The room grew quiet.

"Pai," Kish said softly, "that's impossible."

"Then explain Terra's sudden revival back to health, and why that creature suddenly appeared."

Kish remained stubborn. "Well, it doesn't matter now about whether the Betrayers are attacking whatever planet. That thing's obviously dead Pai. I saw Ichigo kill it; I helped her!"

"I know, Kisshu," Pai said sternly, "but you must understand what I'm trying to say... That creature wouldn't do anything unless commanded by something else. And that something else is the Betrayers."

"It all... makes sense," Ryou agreed in amazement.

Softly, Lettuce offered, "I'll help you with research, Pai."

"Thank you," Pai murmured.

"Keiichiro and I will help with research, too," Ryou nodded determinedly.

"We'll do our best, right, Ichigo?" Masaya asked. There was silence, everyone fixated on the goal of destroying the Betrayers and then...

"Wuah, our wedding!" Ichigo moaned. "Our wedding's going to be ruined!"

Ryou shouted,"You baka! You're concerned about your wedding when the entire world is possibly in danger?! Why the hell did you ever become leader anyway?! Don't you care about the earth? Saving the planet? Humankind? What do you think Tokyo Mew Mew is for anyway?!" Ichigo stared at him for a moment, about to open her mouth to respond when Masaya seconded Ryou.

"Ichigo, it's okay." Masaya smiled. "You fight and save the world. We'll do it together."

"Together, Masaya?"

"Together." Ichigo's sappy lovestruck look was back. Kish ignored the impulse to throw up and decided to gag.

"Together," Ichigo smiled excitedly, "we'll save the world!" Moving toward her teammates, and casting a look toward Ryou, she cheered, "For the future of the earth, and my wedding, I will be of service! Nya!"

* * *

**A/N:** Woo-hoo, saving the world! :)

Looks like Tokyo Mew Mew is back in business! Expect a lot of fluff coming up next between our main pairings! :) If anyone didn't understand the "Ichi-ten" part, it's because Kish began to say Ichigo and then reverted back to Kitten halfway through. Old habits die hard... The reason why Kish kept trying to get Tart to shut up was because Tart was about to shout how he lied to Pudding. When Kish was talking about the planet, that little reference towards the colors green and pink was an implied line of Kish's belief that he and Ichigo should get together.

In the meantime, Happy New Year! I'd like to inform every reader about a survey I'm doing and would love for everyone to check out. You can find it and details on my profile, and I would adore it if everyone could participate! Also... Send me a review and let me know what you think about this stuff with the Betrayers. Too confusing? Too detailed? Too vague? Just right?

Thanks for reading, you guys! :)

~ Bunny


	10. Chapter 10: Honey, Honey

Chapter 10: Honey, Honey

* * *

_Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired._

_-- Robert Frost

* * *

_

"So when did you get a new Mew?"

"Nya!" Ichigo cried, dropping the plates she was washing in the sink.

"Sorry, Kitten," Kish chuckled, leaning over her shoulder.

"Don't do that ever again!" Ichigo scolded him and moved half a foot away. "You scared me! Get out of here, Kish."

He crept closer towards her. "I don't want to."

She sighed, shoving him away with an orange rubber glove. "Fine, what do you want then?"

He took a stack of plates and put them in the lower cupboard of the café's kitchen. "Just to talk."

"What?" Ichigo looked surprised.

Kish appeared confused. "You didn't want me to help you with the dishes?"

"Oh, no, it's okay," Ichigo replied hastily. "You can put stuff away."

"So then, when did you get that new Mew?"

"Oh, Berry. She arrived about... Oh, a year after you guys left."

"We missed a lot," Kish thought out loud. "She's kind of cute, I guess..."

Ichigo's head perked up, slightly disturbed by the fact. _Of course Kish can get over me. He should get over me. I mean, why couldn't he? Besides, it's been seven years since he last saw me and it's not like he should wait for me or something. And, I mean, it's just Kish. Why should I care about Kish? Since when does he mean anything to me anyway? It's just because he's a guy who had a crush on me for a while, that's all, it's perfectly normal to be a little jealous and... Wuah, I hate my love life sometimes! _

"Uh, she and Tasuku have been an item for a while now."

"She's cute. But not as cute as you though, Kitten..."

Abruptly, Ichigo pushed a plate into his hands and pretended she didn't just hear that. Kish was hitting on her? And she was engaged...? He laughed carelessly, placing the plate into the cupboard.

"Yeah, I know," Ichigo sighed, convincing herself his comment and her reaction was a figment of her imagination, "and I missed you guys too."

"I missed you too, honey..."

_ Honey..._

"Hey, you okay, Kitty-cat?" Kish waved a pale hand in front of her face and Ichigo blinked a couple times. "I thought you left me for a second."

"Oh, um, nothing," Ichigo mumbled.

_Honey, honey... _Why did that ring in her head all of a sudden?

"How come you don't wear your hair in pigtails anymore? It's always down nowadays and when it's up it's not in pigtails. Not that it's bad or anything, I always preferred your hair down..."

Ichigo touched her hair automatically, running a hand through her single ponytail and resisting the urge to take it out. "I don't know. I'm not thirteen anymore, Kish."

"I know, but I miss them. Anyway," he grinned, "how's life been while I've been gone?"

"Pretty good. Y'know, fighting to save the world, going to college, marrying Masaya." Kish's eyes flickered for a moment when she mentioned Masaya, but Ichigo did not notice. She hummed an unfamiliar tune to Kish, slight smile upon her lips.

"What are you studying in college?"

Ichigo giggled. "You actually care about what I wanna be?"

"Yeah," Kish nodded his head enthusiastically, adding under his breath, "I care about you at least."

"Well, it's kind of unexpected. Kind of weird for me, I guess. I mean, Ryou's this scientist of course, majoring in animal science, and minoring in genetics... And then Keiichiro has the café, and I think he'll be this famous chef one day." Ichigo pretended to put on a chef's hat, water sprinkling Kish from her gloves, and she giggled again. "Oops, sorry! But I think he'll have a baking TV show or something, y'know? And then Zakuro's still off being a model, and Mint's staring in this ballet with bunnies or something--"

"Wait, bunnies?"

Ichigo made a pair of bunny ears on the back of Kish's head. His head tingled from the touch. "Yeah, bunnies." She stiffed a giggle. "It's a play, and it's called The Rabbit's Dandelion, I think. It's based off a children's book and it's really popular. I remember reading it a long time ago when I was around five or something."

"So does Mint hop around on stage with a dandelion in her paws or something?" Kish asked, grinning.

Ichigo burst out into laughter and smacked him with her wet glove. The soapy residue ran down his side, and Ichigo laughed harder. "No, she doesn't!"

"Hey, I'm soaked!" Kish whined, and with a playful grin, reached his hand down to splash some water on her.

"Watch it!" Ichigo giggled, splashing more water on him. A lock of Kish's hair got wet.

"My hair! This means war, Kitty-cat!"

"Ichigo!" She panted half-heartedly, exhausted from laughing. "Call me Ichigo!"

"Ichigo," Kish repeated.

Ichigo cleared her throat, embarrassed by her actions (_What am I doing? He's not my Masaya! I feel like this is back in the old days..._) and continued.

"And then Lettuce is studying to become a teacher. An English teacher, I think. You know how she is with reading and that stuff, and she's always been the smartest out of all of us. I'm not sure what Berry's doing yet, and I don't think she's sure either. Tasuku might go into business, y'know, selling things, but I don't think that's gonna happen. Masaya's studying environmental science, of course, and he's first in his class. He's been invited to speak at a bunch of different conferences already." Ichigo's face lit up at the mentioning of him, and she giggled slightly. "He'll be great. I know he will... Pudding's still going to school, of course. She's a tenth grader now, and she's pretty into the drama department up there. She's good, too, and can even act serious, I think she'll make it to Broadway someday, uh, I..."

Kish cleared a strand of hair out of her face and Ichigo lost her train of thought. "Gosh... What was I talking about?" He placed the piece behind her ear, and held his fingers there for a moment longer than necessary. Ichigo shook her head. _What is going on with me today?!_

"What about you?"

"Huh?" Ichigo shoved a plate into Kish's hands, reaching down for the next.

"What are you planning to be?"

"Oh, me. Eh, nothing special, I guess. I mean, it's just that I really like animals and all, and I-- will you move away from me already? I can't concentrate." Kish's face was only centimeters away from hers, and it made Ichigo uneasy.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," he said before grinning. "You just... You should see your face when you're focusing on something. It's sweet."

"Um, thanks... I guess?" Ichigo offered before moving onto safer grounds, cheeks a brilliant shade of red. "But I'm planning on becoming a vet. I really like working with all the animals and stuff, although I've got to work on things a bit with dogs... They kind of sense the cat genes, I guess."

"That makes sense, I mean, you're part cat, aren't you, honey?"

_Honey, honey..._

"Oh, um, yeah, I hope so. I just don't want dogs to hate me." Ichigo squeezed her eyes shut before asking, "So what about you guys?"

"Us?" Kish asked with a slight chuckle. "Well, Pai _was _planning on becoming a scientist like Ryou until the Betrayers came. He likes to analyze everything, but you already knew that. Tart's, y'know, _Tart_. He's still in schooling, too, like Pudding. He's been out of it for a little while, the last two years, because of fighting the Betrayers. But it's kind of military. Not quite military, but daily training is part of their core values." Kish rolled his eyes. "They're almost training them to fight. He'll probably go into service later. And me? I've just been hanging around, honey. I'm already in service, but I'm thinking of getting out of it."

"How's, uh, life been though? I mean, you must be famous."

Kish chuckled. "Yeah, we're famous. But we were famous before. I mean, we got chosen out of everyone to go on that mission. That's out of the entire population. So we were famous as soon as our names got called. My mom, of course, was freaked and didn't want me to go, but I went anyway. I sneaked out, actually. Tart's parents went ballistic since he was only eight. They were certain he was gonna be killed. And Pai's parents just told him, 'Go. Fight. Win,' but in some smart language and with words I don't understand."

Ichigo laughed and paused. She cleared her throat. "What's your family like?"

Kish snorted. "Ha. Chaotic. Crazy. I'm the oldest, but my parents tell me I act the youngest. I have a younger brother and sister."

Ichigo smiled a bit. "What are their names? What are they like?"

"You don't really wanna know about them, do you?" Kish looked surprised although secretly pleased. _Do you... care for me?_

"No, I do. Tell me." Ichigo did really want to know, but more for the reason that it kept them on safer grounds than topics that might involve Kish's flirting.

"Well, now my brother's about seventeen. He's really good with the girls, but not as good as me, Kitten! And, I've only ever wanted one girl..."

Ichigo tried to crack a grin. _It makes sense the girls would like him... Why am I so happy when he says he only wanted one girl? And, what's up with the wanted? Why not want? But why would he still like me? Ugh. Get yourself together, Ichigo. He's probably not even be talking about you. Slow down. You're marrying Masaya. You love Masaya. You just need a cup of tea, and you'll stop thinking about this perverted alien already. Right?_

"… His name is Meringue. And my sister... Mango's, um, around twelve now. She says there's this creep at school who's really interested in her and she hates him because he took her first kiss."

Ichigo began to laugh. "Remind you of anyone?"

"You aren't talking about us, are you?" Kish's face lit up. "Hey, I took your first kiss?"

"What do you think?" Ichigo began, but as she moved to step back from the sink, she slipped on a sudsy part. Shutting her eyes, Ichigo let out a cry and expected the tile floor to make contact with her head in a moment. She was falling, falling, falling...

"Nya?" Ichigo asked. The tile floor was nowhere near her head, and Kish's nose was touching hers. Ichigo realized that he had caught her in his arms.

"Y'know, speaking of kisses," Kish whispered, and Ichigo became intensely aware of their closeness. His eyes were a deep golden, exotic color when she thought about it, and Ichigo felt her heartbeat speed up. "I haven't kissed you for a long time..."

Ichigo shoved him away forcefully and snatched a plate again. She could practically see the shade of red that was surely on her face. He wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer to him. Ichigo's breath hitched. Her back touched his chest, and she couldn't breathe. _What's happening to me? _Ichigo scrubbed vigorously at the plate in her hands, trying to ignore him the best that she could and failing. _My cheeks must be bright red now..._

"I'm not making you nervous, am I, honey?" Kish asked, half spoken and half whispered. Slowly, he began to turn her around. Ichigo dropped the plate into the sink. It landed in it with a loud splash.

His lips were so close, barely an inch away. His gaze flickered from her eyes and back down to her lips. He leaned in closer, and she could feel his breath on her lips. Unconsciously, Ichigo closed her eyes and began to move towards him. His arms, almost automatically, wrapped tightly around her waist. "Koneko-chan," he whispered.

And Ichigo snapped out of her reverie. "I... I have to go!" She cried.

"Honey!" He called, but she had already dashed out the door and was halfway down the street. She didn't stop until the café and Kish were long behind her. Ichigo stopped to pant, leaning against a stone wall and sinking down to the ground. She shook her head, taking it in her hands.

"No," she whispered. "Not happening."

_Honey, honey...

* * *

_

**A/N:** Yay, some chemistry (fluff, haha?) between the pair arises! So much fun to write, especially for this couple. They're so cute together. I planned on writing much more, but figured it was too much for the beginning. I mean, the relationship needs to develop, doesn't it?

Ah, well it looks like Ichigo is discovering that she doesn't hate Kish as much as she thought. So, will she push him away even more or just accept it? And how is she going to hide this from Masaya? Ichigo's reactions, in my opinion, are perfectly logical. Right now, Ichigo's chalking up these feelings because Kish used to like her and she thinks it's just a weird thought for her to think of him as liking someone else. And you always want what you can't get right? So, Ichigo's using that as the excuse for that growing chemistry. Obviously, that excuse isn't going to help much later for her because Kish is definitely still interested in her!

So, the reason I've mentioned "The Rabbit's Dandelion" is because it's like an allusion to a book Mia Ikumi, creator of Tokyo Mew Mew, mentioned reading once in one of the manga volumes. :)

I've continued with the naming of desserts tradition with Mango and Meringue! Lol. Next up will be some TxP time! Feel free to let me know what you think about this whole thing, and thanks for everything you guys! :)

~ Bunny


	11. Chapter 11: Is She Pretty?

Chapter 11: Is She Pretty?

* * *

_Just because someone doesn't love you the way you want them to doesn't mean they don't love you with all they have._

_-- Truman Capote

* * *

_

"Is she pretty?"

"What?" Tart asked, confused. He had been walking by Pudding in the café, looking for Kish because he desperately needed his help to fix the mess he had gotten into with her, and did not understand her question.

Pudding tucked a strand of hair behind her ears and tilted her head to the side. She was still dressed in her school uniform, and had decided to stop focusing on her science homework and talk to Tart instead. "Is she pretty?" Pudding repeated, placing her binder in her book bag.

"Who?" Tart scratched his head, hoping that she had calmed down since the last time they saw each other.

"Your girlfriend," Pudding explained. Her eyes had stopped sparkling, and she looked a bit serious. Pudding bit her lip. "Is she pretty?"

Tart continued to look confused for a moment, and then sighed. At times he really hated Kish and Pudding had fallen for his cover, but the good news was that it seemed like she had calmed down. "Oh, my girlfriend? Yeah, she's pretty." Tart smiled slightly.

"Oh..." Pudding bit her lip again, before lighting up once more. "What's her name?"

"Her name? Um..." Tart shifted his eyes and blurted out the first name that came to mind. "Lemon."

Pudding grinned, erupting into giggles. Tart found himself smiling. "Lemon... That's a funny name!"

"Yeah, I know," Tart agreed, "but we can't pick our names."

"Right... Taru Taru," Pudding laughed.

"Hey, don't call me that!" Tart frowned halfheartedly.

"Well you didn't pick my name name for you, did you?" Pudding giggled again, reaching over to fluff a pony tail. "What's she like?"

"Uh," Tart said, and a smile began to grow on his face as he described, "she's really pretty, and she has yellow hair. No, she's gorgeous. She's beautiful and really cute. And you should see her face when she laughs... The way her nose crinkles and everything. And her laugh makes you want to laugh, too, y'know? Her eyes are brown, but they're this really pretty color and they're almost always sparking. She's... really energetic and hyper, but she's more mature now. We were, we are, childhood friends."

"Hm, that's weird, she sounds familiar," Pudding furrowed her eyebrows. "I feel like I know her or something..." Tart grinned sheepishly, hoping she had realized who he had described but she appeared to not have understood. Pudding straightened up. "You got a lot taller."

Tart sprung up, arching his back. "Yup."

Pudding stood up next to him, and the two stood back to back. Tart could feel her heartbeat. She seemed surprised, blinking a couple times, and sat back down on the table. "Wow, Taru Taru, you're almost a head taller than me!"

"Told ya I was tall," Tart smirked.

"Hey, slow down, you're not _that _tall yet, silly!"

Tart rolled his eyes, and Pudding giggled again. "You don't say 'na no da' anymore," Tart pointed out.

"You're right..." Pudding agreed. There was silence and she playfully added, "na no da." The bells rang and the door to the café began to open. Pudding mouthed "Hide!" to Tart. Nimbly, he teleported away to to the kitchen, where there was a nice hiding place and a hole in the wall to just take a quick peek on what was going on...

"Sorry, we're closed," Pudding began cheerfully.

"Pudding?"

Tart frowned; the voice belonged to a boy.

"Hajime!" Pudding shrieked, running towards the boy. There was a group of others behind him, and Tart instantly noticed they were all male. Tart felt his stomach begin to rumble in disgust and tried not to run out to where the group was. _Who is this? Who are all these guys? Why does Pudding seem so happy to see him?_

"Hajime!" Pudding laughed as the boy tickled her stomach. "Ha! Stop it, Hajime, stop it!" She calmed down slightly, still giggling, and smacked the boy on the back of his head. He had long dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was somewhat tan, unlike a certain alien, Tart noticed reluctantly.

"So, I just dropped by to say hi," Hajime explained.

"Oh, cool!" Pudding grinned. "But don't let my boss catch you, you know how he is..."

Hajime laughed. "Yeah, I know, I remember last time." _Last time?_ Tart fumed. "Anyway, me and a couple others are going to the movies tomorrow, you think you can come?" Hajime asked, smiling. Tart growled, and Hajime heard the sound. "What was that?" He asked.

Pudding laughed nervously. "Oh, just the drains! They've been groaning a lot lately, y'know, all 'groan, groan, groan-groan-groan, groan...'"

Hajime laughed and brightened up a little. He blushed slightly. "So, how about it?"

"Oh, I wish I could," Pudding sighed, "but I can't! I'm planning to help my friend with her wedding stuff tomorrow... Y'know, shopping and stuff."

There were a few muffled complaints from Hajime and Pudding's friends. "Aw, come on," Hajime pleaded, placing an arm around her shoulder. Pudding shrugged it off, but Tart missed the action. He was so concerned with the fact that this Hajime guy had a thing for_ his_ girl.

"I told you, Hajime, I can't..."

"Asami is coming."

"_She's _coming?" Pudding cried. "Oh, I haven't done anything with Asami in such a long time..."

Hajime laughed, moving closer to her. Pudding didn't back away this time and Tart growled again, this time punching the wall. Hajime appeared startled. "Man, what are up with those drainpipes today?"

"Yeah, I know, right?" Pudding laughed, glaring in the direction where she figured Tart was.

"But can you come?" Hajime asked again.

"I'm really sorry," Pudding apologized, "but I really can't. I promised..."

"It's okay," he said, hopefully adding, "maybe next time?"

"Maybe next time," Pudding agreed and Hajime brightened up.

"Next time!" He repeated enthusiastically.

"They'll be no next time!" Tart snapped and smacked his hand against the wall. "OW!" He moaned.

"You sure those are the drains?" Hajime asked worriedly. "It sounded like someone got hurt."

"Just drains," Pudding assured him, ushering him quickly out the door. He and the group cried in protest, but Pudding began to shut the door on them. "Now, go! Bye you guys! See you next time, don't come back today, thanks anyway!" She closed the door with a bang and then shouted, "Okay, Tart, you can come out now!"

"He likes you," Tart said bitterly as he teleported back to where she stood.

"Hajime?" Pudding looked at Tart weirdly. "Very funny. Now, what did you think you were doing? Do you have any idea what might have happened if you got caught?!"

"But I just saved you from having to accept an invitation," Tart added proudly. "And myself from having to watch you go on a date with that guy," he mumbled under his breath.

"Thanks, Taru Taru, but I can handle myself," Pudding smiled, before yelling at him, "So what the hell were you doing? Hajime could have found you, and then can you imagine the headlines? 'Tenth graders finds alien in Café Mew Mew after visiting a friend'?!"

"I don't like him," Tart whined. "Hajime or whatever his name was."

"Aw," Pudding grinned, tapping him on the top of his head. "You're concerned for me?"

"He likes you," Tart mumbled in explanation.

"What?"

"He likes you."

Pudding leaned closer, smiling softly. "What did you say?"

"He likes you!" Tart nearly shouted.

Pudding giggled. "I thought so. But don't worry, he's not my type."

Tart perked up. "Really?"

"Yeah," Pudding giggled, "really."

"What's your type then?" Tart asked optimistically, leaning closer towards her.

"Um," Pudding said, angling her head towards his.

"Well?" He prompted expectantly.

"Out of this world," Pudding breathed and Tart lined his head near hers. Their foreheads touched, and Pudding puckered her lips slightly. "You can't," Pudding ducked her head away in a swift movement, and sighed before jumping down from the table she was sitting on. Tart's lips made contact with her cheek.

"Can't what?" Tart whispered.

Pudding looked at him, eyes a bit cold, and her blush faded slightly. And then, she smiled. It was short and bittersweet. "Don't you remember her?"

"Remember who?"

"Your girlfriend."

"But--"

"She's a lucky one," Pudding continued to smile, but it seemed a bit forced, turning to face him again. "Lemon's lucky to have a guy like you...."

"Pudding, I..."

She laughed, turning to hug him briefly, before calling out as she walked away, "I've got to get going anyway. I'll see you later, Taru Taru!"

Tart watched her walk away, her hair swinging behind her. He clenched his fists and as soon as Pudding was out of earshot, screamed, "I'M GONNA KILL YOU, KISH!"

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, so they're totally into each other. Big surprise. :)

Anyway, there's actually a reason behind why Tart's "girlfriend's" name is Lemon. So, because lemons are known for being sour, and Pudding doesn't want Tart to have a girlfriend, she might as well be "sour." Okay, weird way of explaining, but whatever. Another thing too is that lemons are yellow and Pudding's signature color is yellow. When Tart was explaining his "girlfriend", if anyone didn't catch it, he was describing what he thinks of Pudding. But, of course, Pudding didn't catch that, sob.

In this chapter, I tried to open Tart's eyes to the fact that there might be other guys interested in her. But that's the reason behind Hajime and the gang walking in. Hajime's name, by the way, means "beginning" in Japanese so I figured it could hint the beginning of Tart's realization of Pudding's love life might not include him. If anyone was wondering, Asami, a Japanese girl's name, means beautiful linen. There's no symbolize in her name, though. I just liked it!

Another thing I tried to add is that Pudding is almost completely oblivious to guys making moves on her. I also thought she'd be the kind of person to put on a happy face when she finds out Tart "has" a girlfriend than openly show her disappointment and sadness. But on a lighter note, they are so cute together, seriously, I adore them. So sweet and so much fun to write for.

Well, moving on to our next couple, they'll be a little bit of PxL action coming up soon so get ready for that and some more news on the Betrayers. It ought to be interesting trying to get Pai and Lettuce together, hee hee!

Omigosh, I am SO sorry I've taken so long to update!! Thanks for staying tuned though, everyone. :)

~ Bunny


	12. Chapter 12: Late Night Research

Chapter 12: Late Night Research with Lovefools

* * *

_People who are sensible about love are incapable of it._

_-- Douglas Yates

* * *

_

Lettuce sighed. The sound was loud and it echoed through the room. Otherwise, it was silent with the exception of an occasion page turning or irritable groan of frustration, the latter uttered most frequently by Ryou. Pai, Ryou, Keiichiro and herself had been researching for what felt like hours. And still, nearly nothing. The only information they possessed about the Betrayers was the same they had heard from Pai just a week ago. Lettuce looked down at her watch for what felt like the umpteenth time that night. It was 11:03 PM. She sighed again.

"Ryou," Keiichiro suggested. "I think we should call it a night."

With an irritated snarl Ryou turned on him, grouchy from both lack of success and sleep. "No!"

"Please?" Lettuce pleaded.

Ryou began to speak, but Pai interrupted him as soon as his mouth began to open. "I am sure that we will soon have more information, please just give it another hour or so, Lettuce-san."

"Oh okay," Lettuce stuttered, reaching to pick up a sheet of data. At the same time, Pai's hand stretched outward. Their hands bumped together, and Lettuce pulled hers back quickly. "I'm, uh, so sorry!" She apologized, bright red.

Pai's face, of course, was expressionless. Almost expressionless. There was a tiny flicker of emotion in his eyes that Lettuce picked up, but then, just like that, it was gone. "It is of no concern."

"Tell me, Pai," Ryou sighed, "all of the information we have about them again."

"We know that they have a secret weapon, which I discovered to be that monster. We have leads that their creature, and possibly they themselves, have followed us here from our galaxy. Their planet is of a desert terrain and extremely sunny with a hot and dry climate. The Betrayers used to be our allies when they were satisfied with their planet, Helios. It is apparent that they wanted Terra, our planet, in their possession but have abandoned attempts and are trying to destroy it instead. We know that they have stopped attacking out planet, however, they might attack yours: Earth."

Keiichiro looked up from the computer he was currently using. "Is that everything we know?"

"No," Pai said. "The only thing I have forgotten to mention is that they, the Betrayers, get stronger daily."

"Great!" Ryou groaned, smacking his head. "I can't believe this, we know nearly nothing, we've been working on this thing for the past five hours and what we have so far are only assumptions. How come you guys were easier to track?"

Pai's eyes were neither hard nor joking, but a mixture in between. "I do not know," he replied seriously.

"You weren't supposed to answer that!" Ryou snarled.

Pai blinked and Lettuce said timidly, "It's okay. We'll find something soon."

Running a hand through his blonde hair, Ryou sighed once again before turning away. "I hope so. I need a break."

Lettuce sighed, looking back to Pai, and outstretched her hand to give him the sheet of data. "Here... You can have it."

"No, you can have it it," he offered.

"No, really, you're probably better at this research than me, Pai-san," Lettuce blushed.

"No, it's fine, you can look at it first..."

"Just one of you look at it, okay?!" Ryou snapped.

"Ryou," Keiichiro tsked, turning around in his chair to give him a look.

"Fine, _I'll_ look at it," Ryou growled, and snatched the sheet from Lettuce's hands. She blinked before pushing her chair away to take another sheet. Pai stood up at the exact moment she did. Lettuce stared at him for a moment before walking toward the bookshelf. Pai did the same.

Lettuce, cheeks quickly turning pink, glanced over at the selection of books Keiichiro and Ryou had collected over the years. A few of the books, the most worn and well loved, had belonged to Ryou's late father.

Lettuce stifled a yawn, regretting volunteering to help Pai with his research. Things were not looking well, and Pai had only said about three words to her... _No, that wasn't why I offered to help him. It might have been part of the reason, but it certainly wasn't the entire reason. _ Lettuce honestly and truly did want to help save the planet, but she had also viewed research as a chance to become closer to Pai... Just a bit closer. And it did not help that the two were so shy... After emitting a tiny sigh, Lettuce's hand moved toward a book. It was worn looking and large, but obviously possessed a great deal of information inside of it. Her hand came in contact with flesh.

"I'm sorry!" Lettuce squeaked, her hand bumping into Pai's. She briefly noticed how small her hand looked next to his.

"No, it is my fault," Pai told her, removing his hand from hers. He pulled the book out from the shelf. "Here, read it."

Lettuce smiled weakly. "Thank you." She sat down a few moments later, the book in her clutches. Her heart thumped wildly. She allowed herself a quick smile before she began to read...

And read...

And read...

And...

"Lettuce-san?" Pai whispered.

"Huh?" Lettuce asked groggily.

"... You fell asleep," he explained.

"What?!" Lettuce shouted. Her momentum caused the stack of papers to fly off the table in a frenzy, and the pile of books toppled to the floor. Her glasses fell off of her face, and Lettuce became aware that she was unable to see. "I'm sorry!" Lettuce cried, bending down to pick up what she thought was a book, still apologizing. "Sorry, sorry!" Lettuce yanked harder, and realized it was not coming up.

"Lettuce-san," Pai cleared his throat.

"Yes?"

"... That's my foot."

"AHH!" Lettuce shrieked. "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry!"

"It is fine," Pai said. He reached down to take something in his hands. Lettuce squinted. She still couldn't see anything, just his figure coming closer towards her. And then, everything became clear. Lettuce realized that Pai had placed her glasses back on her face. The two blinked a few times, and Pai cleared his throat again. "Can you see now?"

"Y-yes," Lettuce stammered. "Uh, thank you..."

"You're welcome," Pai said.

"I found something!" Keiichiro cried excitedly. Instantly, the entire group perked up and Lettuce's flushed cheeks began to turn from tomato red to a shade of soft pink.

"What is it?" Ryou asked animatedly.

"Here!" Keiichiro smiled brightly, pointing to the screen. "This mass, the orange one, represents an abnormal growth of activity... And around it are these... green dots." He turned to Pai. "They used to represent you, Kish and Tart when we were enemies. They're designed specifically to track those with foreign DNA. The darker, the more abnormal. Yours is actually quite similar to ours, but theirs is extremely different so it's a very dark green. I have located roughly three dark green spots around the orange blob."

"Keiichiro!" Ryou cried. "You're a genius!"

"Yes!" Pai said.

Lettuce smiled, cheeks barely flushed. "We did it," she whispered.

Ryou calmed down and became serious again. He sighed. "Not good. It really does mean they're here and..."

Lettuce gasped. "You mean they're attacking earth now?!"

Ryou turned to her, eyes focused and determined. "Yeah, something like that."

"Ryou," Pai apologized, his voice trailing off, "I am so sorry... We never meant to..."

"Pai," Ryou said quietly, "why did you come early?"

He swallowed. "Because we wanted to see how you were doing, and it was the most rational decision to stay for a longer period of time than a few days. We carefully measure our energy sources."

"So," Ryou said slowly, "you're positive that it wasn't to lead the Betrayers here?"

Pai's eyes turned steely. "Are you suggesting that we attempted to drive them away from our planet and bring them to yours? To allow your people to deal with our problem?"

"Yes!" Ryou shouted, slamming the desk with his fist. "That's exactly what I'm suggesting!"

"Um," Lettuce tried to interject.

"We never would do such a thing," Pai argued with him, annoyance clear behind his eyes. "We are not cruel."

"Oh?" Ryou laughed. "You're sure? Because we haven't had any problems other than the occasional left over chimera anima before you all arrived. Everything starting happening the day you arrived!"

"We have not tried to harm this planet since the last time we saw the Mew Mews and yourselves!" Pai defended himself and his companions vehemently

"I," Lettuce tried again, casting a desperate look to Keiichiro. It appeared that Keiichiro was only watching the situation with intent to help, but was as clueless as Lettuce when it came to stopping the fight.

"Really now?" Ryou's volume grew.

"Yes!" Pai continued to argue, annoyance turning into anger. "You dare doubt our intentions?"

"Of course I do! Why shouldn't I? You conveniently decided to come back to earth just when you were losing!"

"It was coincidence that Ichigo-san sent us that wedding invitation!"

"I don't believe you, you liar!"

"You humans are traitors!"

"Everybody be quiet!" Lettuce screamed. Ryou turned to her doubtfully, shock evident on his face. Pai was emotionless, but Lettuce knew that deep inside he must have been affected by her interruption. Lettuce panted, and her eyes shifted to each person in the room. Her voice was soft, gentle as always, but filled the room. "You both are being ridiculous right now. Why would Pai-san and the others do something like that? After all we did for them? And why would you," she turned to Pai, "even believe that for a moment we are traitors when all we've ever done now is try to help you?"

"I," Pai and Ryou both began.

"I don't want to hear it," Lettuce sat back down, rubbing her glasses on her skirt. "Please. Just work, everyone. Arguing doesn't solve anything."

For a few minutes there was silence until Pai spoke. "I am sorry," he said, "for calling you traitors. Please forgive me."

Ryou bit his lip. "Yeah, I'm sorry for blaming you guys."

"You are forgiven."

"You too."

All was quiet, but Lettuce felt eyes on the back of her neck. She moistened her lips and turned around. Her heart skipped a beat: Pai was staring at her. She turned back around speedily, hands slightly shaking. _Pai was... looking at me! _A slight smile on her face, she set back to work. Lettuce moved through about three sheets of data before getting up to the bookshelf again. Lettuce placed the books back to where they belonged, and looked up to the very top shelf. Hidden in the very corner, was the one she was looking for. It was exactly what she needed. With a smile on her face, Lettuce reached up to grab it. She frowned. She couldn't reach it, and stood up on her tip toes. "Oh no," Lettuce murmured. She still couldn't reach it.

And then, a long arm reached out and took the one next to it. "Is this what you were looking for?" Pai asked.

"Um," Lettuce blushed. "The one next to it..."

"Oh," he said, and with one swift movement exchanged one with another. He pressed the book into Lettuce's hands. "This one?"

"Yeah," Lettuce breathed, turning away quickly. Her cheeks were red hot.

Lettuce found she couldn't concentrate on the book in the slightest. It did not help that Pai had taken the seat next to her again. She watched him out of the corner of her eyes, admiring the way his eyes focused on the book and the glimmers of interest that could be seen when she paid close attention. She sat her book down and sighed, biting her lip. "Ryou?" She called.

"Yes?"

"Is it okay if I finish a chapter of this novel I need to read for school on Monday?" Lettuce's hands inched toward her bag, her hands on the clasp.

Ryou sighed impatiently. "Five minutes, okay?"

"Thank you!" She chimed gratefully. Lettuce had to admit that her school book was more interesting than Ryou's books about the environment and genetics and a few minutes later, the chapter was finished and she returned back to researching. What always amazed her as she read was how easy it was to draw parallels from the main character and herself: once friendless and lonely as well as easily manipulated, and after a sudden transformation she became all she ever really was. Another part Lettuce was amazed by was the fact that the main character was in love with an extremely analytic guy... _Wait... In love?_ Lettuce's cheeks grew pink. _I'm not in love with him!_

"... What is it about?"

"What?" Lettuce asked, turning to the person who had just caused her blush. "Did you say something?"

"Yes," Pai nodded his head, "I asked what the book was about."

"Oh, um," Lettuce laughed nervously. "I... Nothing important."

"You seemed engrossed in it," Pai observed.

_He was... watching me?_

"It's very good!" Lettuce exclaimed. "And it's just so easy to relate to the main character."

"How?"

"Um, because she reminds me of how I used to be..."

"What were you like before I met you?" Pai asked suddenly.

Lettuce gulped. "Shy. Timid. Clumsy. I mean, I still am all of those things... But it's a lot easier now to be myself. I used to be friendless and I was really lonely, but then I became a Mew and things began to look up for me and... Oh sorry, I'm probably boring you." Lettuce bit her lip. _Why am I telling him my life story? He was just being friendly and he probably doesn't even care._

"No, it's interesting," Pai informed her.

She felt her cheeks turn bright red again and allowed herself a small smile. "Thanks." Pai looked back down to his book, becoming interested in it again. Lettuce sighed and moved to grab a notebook just as Pai closed his researching book to do the same. Their hands collided on the table, and once again, their fingers touched each others, but this time, neither pulled their hands away. "Sorry," Lettuce murmured, slowly looking up at him. "We've been doing that a lot lately..."

Their eyes met, and Lettuce smiled shyly beneath her lashes. The corners of Pai's lips began to turn upward, just slightly, and then...

"What are you two doing?!" Ryou snapped, somewhat frazzled. "Just because we found more data doesn't mean we can quit for the night!" He had a large and heavy looking book in his hands that he promptly dropped between the pair. It landed with a loud bang, and Lettuce jumped at the sound.

"Get back to work!" Ryou barked. "We've got the world to save! Again!"

* * *

**A/N:** Oh, Ryou... XD

I always thought of him as the kind of person to totally interrupt a moment between a couple or couple to be... It just seems like him. Pai and Lettuce are interesting when it comes to writing for them... They both can be so awkward, but so cute, at the same time!

~ Bunny


	13. Chapter 13: May I Have This Dance?

Chapter 13: May I Have This Dance?

* * *

_The art of love... is largely the art of persistence._

_-- Albert Ellis

* * *

_

"Oh, Ichigo, you look beautiful!"

"You really do."

Ichigo looked into the long, narrow mirror and gazed absentmindedly at her reflection. She barely heard Pudding's chirps or saw Zakuro's nods of agreement.

"Ichigo?" Mint's voice brought her back to reality.

"Hm, oh, yes?"

"What's up with you? You've been distracted ever since we got here." Mint waved her hands from place to place over the bridal shop, where mannequins dressed in white dominated the scenery. The smell of rose petals lingered in the air.

Ichigo inhaled deeply and blinked. "Oh, yeah. I guess."

"You're not nervous, are you?" Lettuce asked.

"Of course she's not nervous!" Berry giggled, patting Ichigo on the shoulder. "Why should she be nervous?"

Ichigo smiled, snapped back to normal somewhat. "Yeah, you guys are just being silly! There's nothing to worry about. I was just, uh... thinking about what Masaya would think of me in this dress." Ichigo twirled around on the platform, and the long dress swirled around her. "It really is a pretty gown," Ichigo noted softly.

It was strapless, a pristine white shade. It clung to her figure, hugging just the right places, and fit like a glove. The dress itself was gorgeous, a delicate pearl, and swished when Ichigo walked. The bodice was rippled slightly and it lifted up, curved, to reveal beautiful taffeta. The dress trailed behind her slightly.

"You should totally get it!" Pudding squealed, nearly jumping in the air in excitement.

Ichigo smiled, giggling, and reached down to hug her. "I will!"

Berry clapped her hands in delight, and the group moved around Ichigo to hug her. "Mom told me to get it last week," Ichigo told them happily, "and I told her I wanted your opinions. I'm so glad you like it!" Ichigo bit her lip. She should have been happy, really, she should. She was marrying Masaya, her dream guy! … And then Kish came, and that stupid moment made her question her engagement, just because she couldn't ignore the fact that her heart thumped as erratically around him as it did Masaya. She had been avoiding Kish lately and spending as much time as possible around Masaya, to Kish's chagrin. Ichigo shook her head, clearing thoughts out of her mind.

"Ooh, look how in love she is!" Pudding cooed. "She's bright red just thinking of him!"

Ichigo blushed harder, embarrassed and feeling disloyal because she had been thinking about Kish and not Masaya. _ I hate Kish..._

"So let me get this straight," Zakuro said as the last payment for Ichigo's gown was made, "the flowers will be pink cherry blossoms, we'll all be the bridesmaids plus Miwa and Moe..."

Ichigo nodded her head excitedly.

"Masaya has already chosen from his friends the best man and who'll be the ushers, one of Pudding's little sisters, Heicha, will be the flower girl, and a friend of Masaya's will be the ring bearer. Honeymoon'll be in Hawaii. You're getting married on August 21st, right?"

"Mmhm! It was the day we met!" Ichigo laughed, throwing her arms around everyone again. "Oh, I'm so excited, you guys!"

"So," Pudding added mischievously, "who's your maid of honor gonna be...?"

Immediately, all of the girls around Ichigo smiled. "Um," Ichigo said nervously, "I'm not sure yet."

"It should be me," Mint declared. "I was the first Mew Mew you met."

"Yes--"

"Oh, Ichigo!" Mint laughed, sparkles in her eyes. "You've picked me? Oh, I knew you would!"

"Mint..." Ichigo began. She didn't want to mention that she wasn't sure if she wanted a maid of honor because she didn't want to disappointed any of her friends. But Mint looked so happy, she wasn't sure if she wanted to say no...

"I'll get started right away!" Mint promised, hugging her. "Oh, you'll be so glad you chose me!"

"Okay, Mint," Ichigo laughed, happy to see that her friends looked, at the most, a little disappointed. "You can be my maid of honor!"

"And, of course," Mint rambled on, breaking out of the hug with a huge smile on her face, "I'll need someone to help me out, so will you, Zakuro?"

Zakuro paused before smiling a rare smile. "Of course, Mint."

"Can you believe there's only six months till the wedding?" Mint pointed out, smile even wider, obviously exhilarated from the thrill of being chosen as maid of honor. "You should be pretty stressed out now, Ichigo."

"Six months?!" Ichigo bellowed over the calm and romantic music of the store. Several brides to be with mothers and friends clustered around them looked in her direction.

Mint rolled her eyes and made an exaggerated "shhh!" movement as Ichigo growled at her.

"Weren't you counting?" Lettuce pointed out. "Just a month ago you told us how excited you were to marry him in seven months..."

"Oh, no, I am counting!" Ichigo disagreed, half dragged out of the shop by Pudding and Mint. "But I just... Oh, wow, six months, that's pretty soon!"

"Any second thoughts?" Berry teased her.

"N-no, of course not, why would you say that?"

Berry looked alarmed. "I was just--"

"Why would I have any second thoughts about Masaya? I love Masaya! He's my dream guy... No, no seconds thoughts. Never any second thoughts...!"

"She was just asking," Zakuro said slowly, looking her over in concern.

Ichigo laughed nervously. "I just couldn't believe that you guys would say something like that! Me having any second thoughts about my Masaya? Moi? Nah! Of course not!" The matter was dropped immediately, and Zakuro offered to buy everyone ice cream. "Kish," Ichigo muttered under her breath. "No second thoughts because of you, no second thoughts or else."

If only they knew...

* * *

"Kish, if you pace the floor of this ship anymore then I promise you that you will fall to the floor below us," Pai warned him. He disapproved of his friends hurried motions, and the fact that he had taken to pacing lately concerned him; Kish had never been one to worry.

"It's my bedroom," Kish snapped. Pai was about to say more when Kish spoke again. "Pai, she's been avoiding me," Kish moaned, plopping down in a chair.

"She has only been spending more time with her fiance," Pai pointed out, "which is only normal."

"I know," Kish sighed, running his hands through his hair before propping up his face with them. "But she's been avoiding for a month ever since..."

Pai raised an eyebrow. "Ever since?"

"It's nothing," Kish grinned, troublesome spark visible in his eyes.

"Kish! You did not try to romance her, did you?"

He rolled his eyes. "You make it sound so stiff and boring. You can just say flirting already, Pai... But no, I didn't. Not exactly. I mean, I wasn't really trying too hard but..."

Pai gave him a look, but before he could say anything Tart burst into the room. "Kish!" He yelled.

"Hide me!" Kish shouted, darting behind a confused Pai.

"What?" Pai asked, dazed.

"I hate you!" Tart shouted, jumping around Pai. Kish catapulted to the other side of him, running over to his bed. Tart continued to chase him around the room as he shouted, "You've been hiding from me, and I know why! You've wrecked my relationship with Pudding!"

"It was an accident!" Kish pleaded.

"Whatever!" Tart threw a pillow at him, hitting Kish squarely in the stomach. Kish doubled over with an "oof" before getting up again.

"Pudding thinks I have a freaking girlfriend! A girlfriend, and we almost kissed--"

"Really?" Kish grinned.

"Yeah," Tart grinned back before becoming furious again. "But then she stopped! Because..." He paused. "SHE THOUGHT I HAD A GIRLFRIEND!"

"Let us be rational about this" Pai said slowly.

"And it's all Kish's fault!" Tart whined. "So what do I do now? She thinks I have a girlfriend, I played along with it and it's not like I can just tell her it was a joke after all that."

Kish stroked his chin. "Hm..."

Pai stared at him, "You can drop the act."

Kish sighed. "Look, I don't know, I'm sorry."

"You better be!"

"I guess she'll find out the truth sooner or later. Unless you just wanna tell her."

Tart looked stricken. "I can't!"

"It looks like that's all you have left. Sorry."

"Ugh!" Tart stomped his foot on the floor before running outside again.

"Where are you going?" Pai called.

"To see Pudding!" He answered back, turning around the corner, before the door closed and Tart teleported away.

"Ah, young love," Pai said, laughing quietly.

"What do you know about love?" Kish spat. "You're heartless! You don't know how it feels to him when she wants him, but can't because she thinks he's with someone. Or when the girl you love is avoiding you!" Pai looked at Kish before turning away. "Yeah, that's right... " Kish continued. "That's right. You don't know love."

"I do," Pai said softly, "I know love."

Kish stared at him blankly. "What?"

"I know love," Pai repeated, "but I am not in it. I can not be. It is not good sense."

Slowly, Kish began to grin. "You like her."

"Who?"

"Lettuce. Pai, you like her, don't you?" Kish laughed. "Ha ha, I knew you had a heart under that cold exterior! So, how has love bloomed? Under the late night research hours?"

"I can not love her."

"Eh?" Kish looked confused. "Why not?"

"Because love is not rational. Love does not make sense."

Kish paused for a moment before shaking his head. "Pai, you're such a square sometimes."

"Excuse me?"

"Love is love. It doesn't have to make sense. It's not supposed to. When you love someone, you just love them and there's nothing you can do about it." Kish gave him one last look before leaving the room, heading to one destination. He needed a healthy dose of that cat of a girl, and besides... "You can't avoid me forever, Ichigo," he said softly. Laughing, he said, "Ready or not, here I come, Koneko-chan !"

* * *

"One, two, three, one, two, ow!"

"Wuah, I'm sorry, Masaya!" Ichigo moaned, throwing her hands over her face. "I promise I'll stop stepping on your feet, it's just that I can't dance!"

Masaya smiled, massaging his foot. "It's okay, Ichigo."

"Our wedding dance is gonna be ruined!" She cried dramatically.

"I'll say," Mint muttered from the corner. She had been talking animatedly to Zakuro, and was starting to get annoyed by Masaya's almost constant groans of pain and Ichigo's pathetic apologies interrupting their planning.

Ichigo glared at her. "No one asked you!"

"Hey, no problem," Mint said sarcastically. "We're only planning your bachelorette party over here."

Ichigo blushed, waving a hand in the air before turning around again. "Uh... You guys can plan that later!"

"Are you guys ready?" Pudding asked, getting ready to play the music again. She had seemed just a bit tired of her job until Tart had came, and the two had been laughing over the music. At one point even Masaya had told them to keep it down.

For the past hour or so, the couple had been practicing their first dance and within the first five minutes Ryou himself had personally fired the choreographer after he had insulted the café's decor. Ichigo hadn't been too pleased, but Masaya assured her that everything would be fine and that they would hire a new choreographer the next day. In the meantime, they were trying to dance together and create something themselves. Things weren't working out too well. At first Zakuro, expert dancer, had helped them come up with the beginning but Mint had pulled her away to plan the party. Ryou kept offering his "precious" comments and Ichigo didn't want to tell him in front of Masaya that she could care less that he thought that he had never seen a worse dancer than her in his entire life. Mint kept telling them to be quiet and that they were distracting her planning as the maid of honor, a fact that she kept telling everyone. Ichigo instantly regretted giving Mint that position in her wedding. Pudding wasn't doing a good job with keeping the music in track since Tart arrived. The pair continued to laugh, drowning out the music, and Ichigo was starting to get irritated. Her good mood from that afternoon had begun to vanish even faster when Keiichiro had distracted everyone for a good twenty minutes with a fresh batch of cake and when she noticed Lettuce was no help because she was so involved in her book. Then again, Lettuce herself said she couldn't dance.

But, worst of all, Ichigo couldn't stop thinking about Kish. "Just keep my heart in control," Ichigo told herself. "Don't let yourself be battered by the plans of romance that fate as thrown at you! … What am I saying?!"

"Masaya," Ichigo said wearily. "I need a drink..."

He smiled before kissing her lightly on the lips. "Sure, Ichigo."

Quickly she ran off, sinking down the wall of the kitchen. Clutching her head, she moaned. "Why?"

A pair of hands placed themselves on her shoulders. "'Why' what?"

Ichigo screamed, but a hand clamped itself over her mouth and only a shrill cry emitted from her lips. "Shh, Kitten, it's just me," Kish chuckled.

She swatted his hand away, cheeks flushed. "You jerk! I told you to stop sneaking up on me like that!"

"Sorry," he apologized, still grinning.

"Wipe that grin off your face," Ichigo mumbled.

Kish did at first, but within a second it was back. Sighing, Ichigo walked over to the refrigerator and took out some vanilla ice cream and strawberries. As she chopped the fruit up, Kish began to talk. "You've been avoiding me."

Ichigo looked up, startled. "N-no, I haven't."

"Yeah, you have."

"And why would you say that?"

"Honey, it's been a month. Come on, I'm not as stupid as you think. I haven't seen you for a month."

"Well, maybe I want to spend time with other people, too," Ichigo snapped.

Kish's voice softened, arm moving around her shoulders. She shrugged it off irritably. "Koneko-chan, what's the matter?"

"Nothing! It has nothing to do with you! There's no reason why I should try to avoid you after we almost kissed and I actually wanted to kiss you, I mean, wuah! Hahaha, who just said that?! I didn't say that!" Hurriedly, Ichigo dropped the chopped up strawberries into the blender and scooped the ice cream inside before turning it on.

"What did you just say?" Kish's grin grew. "Did you just say that you wanted to kiss me, Kitten?"

"No!" Ichigo's laugh grew wild and she backed into the corner. "I didn't just say that! Ahaha, Kish, are you imagining things again?"

"Nope, honey," he smirked, tapping his ears, "my hearing's better than yours."

"Um," Ichigo mumbled before pushing him away to grab her strawberry milkshake. She took a long sip and hurried out of the room before saying anymore. Kish followed her, much to Ichigo's annoyance and Tart grew red with anger when he entered the room.

"What?" Kish asked innocently and Ichigo glared at him before sitting her drink down. Tart rolled his eyes.

"Kish, right?" Masaya smiled, but Ichigo looked worried.

"Yes, Masaya, right?" Kish smirked.

"Nice to see you again," Masaya said warmly. Kish only nodded his head in return, taking in the couple.

"Okay, you guys, ready, set, go!" Pudding cheered as the music began to play.

And, almost guaranteed, within a minute the music was put on pause, Masaya was rubbing his sore feet and Ichigo was apologizing. "I'm sorry!" She wailed. Masaya smiled.

Kish cleared his throat, and all eyes in the room were on him. "What are you guys trying to do?"

"Design our first dance," Ichigo grimaced. "But Ryou over here decided to fire the choreographer."

"He insulted the design!" Ryou snapped at her.

Kish laughed and the sound filled the room. His eyes brightened immediately. Mint raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"I can help you practice your first dance," Kish offered, grinning.

"Thank you!" Masaya beamed.

"WHAT?! Since when do you dance?!" Ichigo asked him angrily.

"I've always been a good dancer."

"Masaya, please--"

"But, Ichigo, Kish is only trying to help."

"I am," Kish agreed. "Just show it to me once and I'll practice it with Ichigo. By the end of, uh, tonight she'll know it by heart! And," he winked at Ichigo behind everyone's back and she turned red with anger, "if she needs any more help after that, I'll always be free to help her."

"No!" Ichigo gasped, jumping up from her seat next to Masaya to walk over to him. "You will never touch our first dance! Don't even bother!"

"But, Kit--Ichigo, I was only trying trying to help," Kish repeated innocently.

"Can I speak to you for a minute?" Ichigo hissed, pulling him into the kitchen.

"Yes, honey?" Kish asked expectantly, eyes bright and excited.

"I know exactly what you're doing!" She accused him. "So don't even try!"

Kish blinked, feigning innocence. "Try what?"

"I know that you're trying to worm yourself into my relationship with Masaya, but it won't work! I won't let you!"

Kish lowered his face near hers, and Ichigo cheeks grew red. Her mouth formed words that did not come out. "Koneko-chan," Kish whispered in her ear and she shivered. "I'm only trying to help, and besides, whether you like it or not, you fiance seems like he doesn't mind the idea!"

"I hate you," Ichigo muttered, pushing him away and walking out of the kitchen. She plastered a smile on her face, grumbling, "I hate you," again under her breath.

"So!" Kish laughed. "What do you have so far?"

Masaya placed an arm around Ichigo and Kish growled lowly. "Well, the whole thing. We just can't seem to get it though."

"Masaya has it," Ryou interjected, "it's just Ichigo who doesn't."

"Ugh!" Ichigo fumed.

Kish laughed again. "Okay, dance. I'll watch."

They began. Ichigo stepped on Masaya's feet a couple more times, but they went through all they had. "Well?" Ichigo huffed, still upset by his trickery.

"I think," Kish said slowly, eyes sparkling, "that Masaya has it perfectly. But, I'd like to work on the waltz with Ichigo even more."

"What?!" Ichigo cried, turning to Masaya and clutching his arm. "No, Masaya!"

Masaya laughed, pushing her a little bit towards him. "It's okay, Ichigo. I'll be back in about ten minutes."

Kish grinned, and beckoned a hand over to himself. Grumbling, Ichigo stepped forward. "You know I'm not a good dancer..."

"I know."

"What?!" Ichigo gasped. "You weren't supposed to say that!"

Kish chuckled. "What was I supposed to say then?"

"You... You were supposed to say: 'well, you can't be that bad.'"

"Hey, you're trying at least," Kish smirked. Ichigo rolled her eyes.

"First," Kish instructed her, "take those off. You can't dance in those." Glaring, Ichigo kicked her flip-flops off. She wiggled her feet. "Much better," Kish whispered, chuckling, "nice nail polish." Already, Ichigo felt her cheeks begin to blush pink. Her blush deepened and her heartbeat sped up even faster when Kish wrapped an arm tightly around her waist and place her hand in his. There was only barely the space of a hand between them. _Does he really have to hold me this close?_ Ichigo thought, turning red. _He holds me so much closer than Masaya... _"It's pretty easy," Kish told her, showing her. "Just step, then quick step-step. Like this."

"I'm nervous," Ichigo murmured, looking up at him.

"I'll take my shoes off too then," Kish told her, thinking that she thought he would step on her feet. "Although these probably won't hurt you."

Ichigo's face was flushed, feeling the warmth radiating from him. "N-no, not about that."

"Just relax," Kish assured her, smiling slightly.

"I can't!" Ichigo whined. And, they danced. Ichigo stepped on his feet lightly a couple times, murmuring soft apologies, but Kish's hold was stronger than Masaya's. He forced her to turn when he wanted her to turn, and Ichigo found that she was actually dancing with him. "Hey! I'm doing it!" She giggled. Kish smiled, tightening his grasp around her. Ichigo let out a small gasp, eyes alarmed, before smiling herself.

"Keep following me," Kish whispered in her ear, "keep looking in my eyes." Ichigo stared into them and her heartbeat continued to speed up. _Just keep my heart in control,_ she repeated in a sort of chant in her head.

"Aw, you guys are dancing together!" Pudding squealed.

They continued to dance, and Ichigo leaned her forehead on his shoulder, sighing slightly. _This is actually... nice,_ Ichigo thought, _he's a good dancer..._

As much as Ichigo hated to admit it, she liked dancing with Kish even more so than Masaya. She actually found herself annoyed when Masaya had cut in, and it scared her. And later that night, Ichigo couldn't sleep. The moment repeated inside her mind, and she felt dizzy just thinking about it. Somehow she knew, she just knew, that she was starting to like Kish. Not as much as Masaya, but a definite strong attraction that was growing day by day. "What's happening to me?" She whispered. "I hate this..."

Because around Kish, keeping her heart in control was a lot harder than she thought.

* * *

**A/N:** Yay! KxI fluff! You gotta love them. :) Anyway, next up should be some more Betrayers stuff and even more KxI.

Thanks for still reading and reviewing this long thing, even after I took such a long time to update! You guys really make my day! :)

~ Bunny


	14. Chapter 14: Try and Fail

Chapter 14: Try and Fail

* * *

_You must always push the limits. Because if you never fail, then you will never succeed._

_-- Anonymous

* * *

_

Ichigo knew she was in trouble when golden amber and forest green had "mysteriously" become two of her favorite colors. She also knew she was in trouble when her heartbeat sped up at the thought or sight of Kish. Try or fail, she was attracted to him and it both scared and angered her. Definitely not a good sign. And then...

"Ichigo, what's wrong?" Pudding asked her, full of concern.

Feeling her hair bristle, Ichigo jumped with a start. "Oh, um, nothing," she muttered.

Pudding shrugged. "Okay." A grin spread from ear to ear on her face. "Soooo, how do you like my dress?" Pudding twirled around in the café, giggling. The dress swirled around her, and Pudding added, "I'm so glad you guys chose teal blue colors for the wedding... They're so pretty!"

Ichigo's jaw dropped lower than it should have. "You're wearing your bridesmaids dress outside of the studio? In the café?!"

Pudding cocked her head the side. "You didn't notice...?"

"No!" Ichigo shrieked, clutching the sides of her head. "Wuah! The dress! Gah, get it off, get it off...! I mean, no, it's okay, but just, ahhhh!" Still babbling, Ichigo ran off towards the kitchen and ran straight in Kish. With another shout of surprise and apology, Ichigo dashed off and a chuckling Kish followed her inside.

"I hate the rain," Tart grumbled as he teleported inside the café, kicking a chair as he walked towards Pudding. "And what's wrong with _her_?"

"Taru Taru!" Pudding squealed, running over to hug him. "You're here!"

"Don't call me that," Tart said grumpily.

"Don't worry about Ichigo, she's just getting jittery about the wedding.. You know, it's really soon!"

"Kish..." Tart growled.

"Say something?" Pudding asked expectantly.

"Nothing," Tart grimaced.

"Taru Taru, why are you being so grumpy?"

"I'm not grumpy," he argued, "I just... I'm sorry, you're right. I am grumpy. It's just..." He held out a rain to gesture out the window to the typhoon outside. "I really hate the rain."

"Really?" Pudding looked surprised, and her eyes twinkled. "But I love the rain!"

Tart's look was incredulous. "You love the rain?!"

"Yup!"

"But why? It's always so cold and boring and..."

Pudding laughed, eyes twinkling. "You can be so close minded sometimes, Tart. So how's Lemon doing?"

Tart froze. She remembered his fake girlfriend's name? "Uh..."

"Have you talked to her lately?"

Tart took a huge breath and the air escaped him with a hiss. "Yes," he said slowly, "she's doing good."

"I bet she misses you," Pudding smiled. It was bittersweet, like always when she smiled at him nowadays. "I'd miss you a lot if I was her."

Tart cleared his throat. "Pudding, I have to tell you something..."

"What is it?" Pudding's eyes were bright, and she was smiling at him again.

"I don't—"

"NYA!" The scream was loud, piercing through the café. All went silent. "MASAYA! I, AH, I CAN EXPLAIN! IT'S ALL KISH'S FAULT! THERE'S A REASON WHY I'M ON HIM! I, UH, TRIPPED! MASAYA, I LOVE YOU!"

There was the sound of a laugh, most likely Masaya's. "Ichigo, there's no need to be so worried about it. It was obviously an accident."

"Yeah." Kish's voice was unmistakable, and he sounded irritated, loaded with sarcasm. "Totally an accident."

Masaya and Ichigo, face bright red, walked through the room. "Hey, Pudding! Tart?"

"Tart," he assured Masaya.

Masaya beamed. "Ichigo and I'll be out for an hour or two, we're going shopping for some wedding stuff and lunch. If Ryou gets mad, tell him Keiichiro told us not to worry about it."

"Be careful in this weather!" Pudding wished them.

"Thanks," Ichigo mumbled, clinging onto Masaya's arm, face half buried in his shoulder.

After the pair left the room, Pudding turned back to Tart. "What were you going to tell me?"

"Pudding, about Lemon," Tart began.

Kish walked in, pulling on a pony tail. He moved over to the two friends, one confused and the other furious. "Kish," Tart hissed, "what are you doing here?"

He grinned. "Uh, yeah, well, Ichigo and I had a total _accident_ in the kitchen and I ended up on top of Ichigo when Masaya walked in so..." Tart was so angry that he turned a color that roses everywhere would envy. Kish's grin fell a little before growing even wider. "Anyway, I'm going to get going now and let you two _lovebirds_ get going..."

"Hey, get back here, you meanie!" Pudding shouted. "That was rude!"

"Kish!" Tart yelled. "Get back here, and stop teleporting away!"

Pudding sighed. "He's gone now. What is it?"

"So, uh, what I wanted to say was..."

"Where is she?!" Ryou bellowed, moving into the room. "Zakuro's doing a shoot, Mint's at a recital and Lettuce is researching with Pai and myself. We need someone to serve! And what are you doing talking to Pudding? She's on her shift!"

Pudding stifled a giggle. "Ryou, it's Sunday. It's our day off! Ichigo was just here finishing up some work from yesterday. I'm just here to try on the bridesmaids dress again."

Ryou didn't even looked flustered, replying before he went back into the lab, "Oh, right. Well, things have been a little crazy around here since the Betrayers came... Sorry about that. I'll be in the lab if you need anything."

Tart ran a hand through his hair. "Is everyone gone now?"

"I think so," Pudding laughed, "but first... Do you like my dress?" Pudding twirled in front of him, still laughing.

Tart bit his lip. How could he tell her that she looked gorgeous when Pudding thought he had a girlfriend? Before thinking, he blurted out, "You look beautiful."

Pudding's eyes grew wide before shaking her head. She bit her lip. "You mean the dress?"

"Oh yeah," Tart replied hastily, realizing his blunder. "But, it's about my girlfriend..."

"What about her?"

"It's a long story."

"Don't worry, I have time!"

"Well, the thing about her is she--"

"Tart?" Pai asked, with a blushing Lettuce at his side. "Have you seen any of the sheets of data that I took back to the ship last night? I think I might have left them here by accident..."

Tart threw his hands up into the air. "How hard is it to get a little privacy in this stupid café?!"

Lettuce looked confused. "What?"

"Nothing!" Tart snapped. "No, I haven't seen any of your stupid sheets of data and I don't care!"

"I was just asking," Pai said slowly, surveying him.

Pudding laughed and punched Tart on the arm. "Oh, he's just being moody because of the rain!"

"Am not!"

Lettuce sighed. "We really need to find those sheets..."

Pai nodded his head in agreement. "Yes, there is some information on there that I want to check."

"Hey," Pudding asked slyly, "is there a reason why you two have been hanging out so much recently?"

"Yeah!" Tart cackled. "You two have been around each other a lot lately..."

Pai froze and Lettuce went from pink to red. "Ooh, are you two in love?" Pudding giggled, clapping her hands together.

There was silence. The question obviously did not want to be answered. "Let's search the other room," Pai suggested frostily.

"Y-yes," Lettuce stammered as he whisked her away.

The corner of Pudding's lips quivered before she burst into laughter. Tears formed at the corners of her eyes from laughing so hard. "Those two really do like each other, don't they?"

"Definitely," Tart laughed along with her. He unconsciously went to put an arm around her shoulders. His arm laid around her for a few moments, the two looking into the other's eyes, before Pudding turned her head away and gently took Tart's arm off.

"So," she said happily, "you wanted to tell me something... I don't think there's anyone else to interrupt us now."

"Just Keiichiro," Tart pointed out.

Pudding grinned. "I haven't seen him all day: I think he's out today, doing errands and stuff, but I don't think Ryou knows. That's why Masaya told us to tell him that."

"Oh."

"Well? What is it about your girlfriend?"

"Pudding, she... My girlfriend, she..." Tart clammed up. Her squeezed his hands together and finished, "she just reminds me a lot of you."

"Oh." Pudding looked disappointed for a second before cheering up. She ruffled the hair on the top of his head. "You have good taste!"

Tart blinked a few times, upset at himself. "Um, thanks."

Once again, it was quiet and all that could be heard was the pounding of the rain against the windows. "Pudding," Tart said, "you never told me why you liked the rain so much."

"Here, I'll show you," said Pudding, taking his hand, "but first I've got to get out of this." She moved a hand to her bridesmaids dress. "I don't think Ichigo will be very happy if this gets wet..."

Tart began to open his mouth, but decided against it. Pudding walked out of the changing room area moments later.

"Why do you take so long?" Tart joked.

She ignored him, grabbing his hand again and looping her fingers with his. "Come on!"

"Where are we going? Why do you have rain boots on?"

"We're going outside!"

"WHAT?!" But it was too late, and Tart was already drenched from head to foot. He adjusted his vision to see Pudding dancing in the rain.

She grinned. "It's fun!"

"What are you doing?! Pudding, stop, you're gonna slip and hurt--"

"Ow!"

Tart sighed, running over to her. "Told ya so." Pudding giggled, using Tart to pull herself up. "Don't slip again..." But, of course, Pudding tripped in a puddle. "Gotcha!" He grinned. She laughed in reply. "Pudding?" Tart shouted through laughing. "So is this why you liked the rain so much?"

"No!" Pudding giggled. "But this is really fun with you! I like the rain because..." And just at that moment, it stopped raining. Tart looked up again and the sun was poking out through the rain. "See?" Pudding whispered, Tart's arms still around her. "A rainbow!"

"Huh?" Tart asked, distracted by her close proximity.

"I like the rain because there's always a rainbow after it rains. Always." She smiled, looking up into his eyes. "And it reminds me how even after the worst situations, there's always something good that comes out of them at the end." Tart slowly began to grin as the rainbow stretched out above them. It was beautiful to him, just because Pudding was standing there. The color that stood out to him the most was the bright and vivid yellow, that just so happened to match a certain someone's hair...

"Pudding..." Tart whispered.

"I need to get changed now," Pudding sighed, "or I'll get a cold. You better go, too! I'll catch you later!"

"... I don't really have a girlfriend," he finished as she skipped off. Somehow, he knew she was smiling and laughing as she ran under the rainbow that was still bright in the sky. He closed his eyes. And somehow, he knew everything was going to be okay.

"Hey!" Tart opened his eyes again to see Ichigo standing in front of him. "It stopped raining!"

"Oh?" Tart asked. "Yeah."

Ichigo giggled. "You're soaking wet... Where's Pudding?"

Tart shrugged, looking over into the direction Pudding was last. "I don't know, she just kind of ran off."

Ichigo tsked knowingly. "Pudding dragged you into the rain?"

Tart grinned sheepishly. "Yeah."

Ichigo looked at him before smiling. "Pudding... She likes you a lot, y'know."

Tart's heart sputtered. "R-really?"

"Oops, sorry, shouldn't have said that!" Ichigo clapped a hand over her mouth. "Gotta go!"

"Tell me, you old hag!" Tart called annoyingly.

"Midget!" Ichigo shouted back before the door closed behind her. Sighing, she hung up her coat and slipped out of her pink rain boots. Her umbrella, useless in the pouring rain, dropped to the floor with a "bang."

A pair of arms smoothly wrapped around her. Warm breath ticked her ear as she heard, "Hey, Koneko-chan. Don't worry, it's just you and me now. No stupid boyfriend around anywhere."

Ichigo shoved her hands behind her to push him away, suddenly angry. "Shut up, Kish. Were you watching our date or something?!"

Kish cast his eyes away. "Maybe."

Ichigo turned bright red with anger. "I'm gonna kill you!"

Kish grinned. "Hey, that's passionate. You must feel strongly for me!"

Ichigo ignored him. "Masaya's not my boyfriend anymore. He's my fiancée, y'know."

"Yeah," said Kish, "and you're not married to him yet either."

"Kish..." Ichigo sighed, sliding out of his grip again. He was persistent and his arms wrapped around her again. This time Ichigo couldn't break out of his iron tight grip.

"Come on, honey, let's have some fun. Just you and me, he'll never find out."

Ichigo wiggled around and turned around to face him. She gasped; his lips were close to touching hers. Kish noticed her stare and smirked, his words slightly reminiscent of the old days. "Maybe we should start with kissing?"

"Kish!" Ichigo hissed.

His eyes sparkled, and the smirk grew. "Hey, that's okay, I can wait. I don't mind talking first..." Ichigo moved around again, only to find she was still in his embrace. "... Although we did have some, uh, fun earlier," he finished, grinning.

"Excuse me?!" Ichigo shrieked, turning red. A hand shot up to smack him and he grasped her wrist firmly before she could slap him. "That was all your fault! I didn't do anything, _you_ fell on _me_, not the other way around!"

"_You_ threw yourself on _me_, and we flipped over so I was on top of you," Kish corrected her.

"Did not!"

"Come on, Kitten," Kish whined, trying to persuade her and not succeeding in the slightest, "all I wanna do is have some fun."

"Never!" Ichigo snapped. "Get out of my love life!"

Kish's eyes twinkled even more. "I'm in your love life, Kitty-cat?"

"Ugh!"

"Am I annoying you?" Kish asked sadly.

"Yes!" Ichigo snapped.

"Why? I thought we were having a good time..."

"We? We?! _You_ are having a good time! _Not _me!"

"So you're not enjoying this then...?"

"No!" Ichigo huffed.

"Then tell me, Koneko-chan, why it is that you're smiling right now. Not that I mind, of course, that you're smiling because of me. You have a pretty smile."

"Eh?!" Ichigo's dreamy smile disappeared immediately.

"All I wanna do is have a little fun," Kish reminded her.

"My idea of fun does not involve you!"

"Of course it does, Kitten!"

In spite of herself, Ichigo's smile was back. "You're persistent, aren't you?"

"Always have been. Always will." Kish leaned his face closer to hers and Ichigo gulped.

"What?" Her voice dropped to a whisper.

Kish sighed, and their foreheads touched. His gaze burned her. "I'm not letting you marry him."

"Who?" Ichigo asked, forgetting everything instantly.

Kish grinned. "That's what I wanted to hear."

Ichigo's eyelashes fluttered, and she cast her eyes to the floor. Kish leaned his lips closer to hers, and Ichigo jumped. "No!"

Kish looked confused, cocking his head to the side. "What, Kitten?"

"No!" Ichigo repeated angrily. "I won't let myself fall for for this!"

"Fall for what?" Kish feigned innocently.

"I know exactly what you're trying to do, don't pretend otherwise! You're trying to make me forget Masaya!"

Kish oozed innocence. It was disgusting; Ichigo could practically see it rub onto her. "And why would I do that?"

"Uh..." Kish's face had swiftly came near hers, and he took her face in his free hand because the other was still holding her left hand in it's grasp. "I..." Ichigo blinked.

"I won't let you marry him," Kish assured her, "I promise you."

"Uh, I..." Their foreheads touched, and Kish licked his lips.

"Now," he whispered, "why don't we finish what we started earlier? Before Masaya came in, we were just about to kiss..."

"Uh..." Ichigo murmured.

"And now, there's no one left to stop us from finishing what was started, Koneko-chan."

"I..." Ichigo said in a hushed tone.

"So," Kish continued as his lips traveled closer to hers, voice just as smooth and velvety as before, "let's kiss."

There was a blue sparkle that momentarily distracted Ichigo. She realized it was her sapphire engagement ring sparkling, and snapped back to reality. "I've got to go!" Ichigo yelped, bolting away from his grasp and running out the door with as much energy as she could muster.

"You love me, Koneko-chan," Kish murmured, grin dancing on his lips, watching her figure hurry off in the distance. "I know you do, it'll just take a little time, but you want to kiss me back. You even said so yourself. And besides, you can't dodge that kiss forever. I've got a feeling."

* * *

**A/N:** Ah, even more KxI romance! Guess I've been in a romantic mood lately. :) Ichigo should realize sooner or later that she can't ignore those feelings... And, aw, poor Tart! Every time he tries to tell Pudding the truth, something happens! Thus, in both cases, "Try and Fail," and there goes the title.

Get ready for some action coming up next! And some, uh, other stuff, too. ;)

There's one thing I forgot last time, and I need to give a special thanks to **alice roaming** for her uber kind review. Thank you so much! I'm really happy to hear that you're enjoying the story so much, and your review really made me smile. Thank you!!!

Many thanks to all readers, and a special thanks to reviewers as well! You guys are what really keep me going. :)

~ Bunny


	15. Chapter 15: Victory, At Last

Chapter 15: Victory In More Ways Than One

* * *

_Sometimes the heart sees what is invisible to the eye._

–- _H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

* * *

_

A dark shadow raced across the night as the full moon rose above.

He watched with keen dark brown eyes, white blonde hair gleaming in the moonlight; his tan skin camouflaged him into the night. "So this," he chuckled, "is earth..." He sensed a presence among him. "... Welcome, my friend, to Tokyo, Japan."

A minuscule figure moved alongside him, voice high and piercing. "What are you doing?" It commanded.

The tall, tan man neither blinked nor moved. "Surveying the scenery," he said calmly.

A pair of light green orbs watched him carefully, light dancing off of them.

"You can come out," the tall man sighed. "There's nothing to be worried about. They can not see us... Although it does appear that they realize we are here after our monster attacked them, and of course there were those sheets of data we found in our enemy's residence. Pity our creature didn't kill them, although they almost killed it. They are all very strong."

The second shape, equally tan if not darker in appearance, kicked a rock on the ground and nodded in agreement. It fiddled with a strand of silver hair before phrasing his words carefully, "This... _earth,_ is much better than their planet, Terra."

"Yes," his companion agreed, "it is a much better target for our domination."

The green eyes flickered. "Is everything ready?"

"Almost, not quite. Only a few more preparations need to be made..."

"Plans will be set later tonight, I presume?"

"Exactly. Then we will see just how strong they are."

"When do you approximate the attacks to start?"

The brown eyed man turned to him. "Soon. Very soon. I promise you. We will not be disappointed." The two began to walk together in unison, side by side. The smaller and darker figure had to quicken his pace to keep up with the other man's long strides. And then, there was a high whistling sound. It was soft, barely audible, but it rang out across the starless sky.

"It's time!" The tiny figure laughed.

"It's time," the tall man repeated, grin obscured by the black night. His voice faded as he and his companion disappeared, "It's time..."

* * *

"Ichigo?" Masaya waved a hand speedily in front of her face, and she jumped. "Huh?" Ichigo murmured.

Masaya frowned, an action that was odd for him. "Are you okay, Ichigo?"

Stretching, Ichigo replied, "Um, yeah, just fine, Masaya. Sorry about that."

"You've been out of it lately," he observed. "I just asked for your opinion on the cake, and you were looking off in the distance... You sure you're okay?"

Ichigo didn't offer an answer, feeling guilty at the sight of Masaya's worried face. "People have been asking me that a lot lately."

"I know," Masaya sighed, running a hand nervously through his hair, "you've been out of it lately..." The frown on his face deepened, and he placed his hands on her shoulders. He forced Ichigo to look into his eyes, something she had been avoiding. "It's not about the wedding, is it?"

Ichigo shifted from side to side. "N-no, not exactly."

Masaya kissed her forehead gently. "Then what is it?"

Ichigo was silent, looking away at the cake. Her face brightened. "I love the cake! It's gorgeous and yummy, Masaya, oh, we have to get it!"

Masaya sighed, dropping the subject. "We'll take the cake then." Moments later, Ichigo sighed herself. At first, she had been so excited about marrying Masaya. She had even been counting down the days until their wedding! But then, Kish had come along and she was starting to think about him more and more as time went on... Suddenly, Ichigo stopped looking forward to her wedding day. Suddenly, it seemed like a chore. And she had even began to wonder what it would be like to marry Kish instead of Masaya... Ichigo shook her head violently, causing Masaya to look at her in alarm. _No! I will _not_ think these kinds of thoughts! I _want _to marry Masaya, and that's the end of it!_

Masaya laughed, placing an arm around Ichigo and she nestled into him. Instantly, she forgot all of her fears and worries. "Let's head back, okay?" Masaya asked her.

"Okay!" Ichigo smiled and nodded her head.

"So," said Masaya, "only about five months now until our wedding!"

Ichigo's smile grew, but inside she was churning. "I know, Masaya!" She giggled.

"Can you believe it's that soon?"

"No," Ichigo said truthfully, "I can't."

"And in five months, we''ll be married," Masaya rambled on and Ichigo found herself drowning him out until the reached the café.

"Um, Pai-san," Ichigo overheard Lettuce as they walked inside. "Have you found those data sheets yet?"

Pai shook his head as irritatedly as his emotions would permit him to show. "No. It appears as if they have fallen off the face of the earth."

Ichigo herself stifled a giggle at Pai's stiff language, but Lettuce nodded her head fervently. _ Oh Lettuce_, she thought, _I really have to help you guys get together before..._

"Our wedding," Masaya finished.

"Yeah!" said Ichigo in agreement, feeling upset at herself for not listening to him.

He smiled, and said, "I have to get to work now, Ichigo, but I'm ready for our trip tomorrow to pick up all the wedding stuff and get fitted. See you tomorrow?"

"Oh," Ichigo sighed, "that's too long..."

Masaya's smile grew. "I love you."

"I love you, too!" Ichigo giggled as the two leaned in to kiss each other fully on the lip before someone cleared their throat. Ichigo looked around dazedly, and saw Kish in the corner, eyes on fire and smirk present on his face. Glaring, Ichigo closed the gap between her lips and Masaya's before he walked out of the door. "What was that about?" Ichigo demanded Kish angrily.

He stared at her before laughing. "I thought you two were never going to finish." Ichigo's eyes narrowed. "'Oh, Masaya,'" Kish imitated in a high pitched voice that Ichigo assumed was meant to be herself, "'I'll miiiiss you.'" Ichigo rolled her eyes, punching Kish on the shoulder. His eyes burned her. "And would you, Koneko-chan, miss me if I was going to leave?" Ichigo blinked as Kish grew closer to her. "Would you?" He repeated.

"Ichigo!" Mint called from across the room. "I need your opinion on your party!"

Kish sighed angrily and directed an upset glare at Mint, who simply smirked back knowingly in return. Ichigo, however, was relieved. "Coming!" She replied, before turning back to him. "Take that, Kish."

But, Ichigo never would discover at that moment what Mint and Zakuro had planned for her bachelorette party. At that moment, there was a loud "crash!" and the sound of wood breaking. Ryou ran out from the kitchen, excitement present on his face. "Finally! _They're_ here! Mews, go get 'em!"

"What?!" Ichigo moaned. "You've got to be kidding me! Not now!"

"Come on, Kitten," Kish laughed, eyes fiery, "let's go get them."

She rolled her eyes, transforming in front of him. "What is up with guys and fighting?"

Kish shrugged. "I don't know." His eyes glinted and he said, "Let's go," before grabbing her hand. Halfheartedly, she attempted to break out of his grip. The rest had already arrived on the scene, and Ichigo gasped. In front were two men. The first was tall and lean, with golden skin, bottomless dark brown eyes and white blonde hair. The second was smaller and much darker, with shocking white hair and bright green eyes. What struck Ichigo the most was that their skin was so dry; it was cracked and scaled like a reptile's.

"Your monster ate my ring!" Ichigo began to shout, but Kish placed a hand over her mouth to shush her. The white blonde haired man cast his eyes in their direction and chuckled. He appeared close by Ichigo and Kish, taking a moment to look Ichigo over. Kish growled in disgust, tightening his grip around her.

"Feisty, aren't we?" The man laughed, reaching out to touch her cheek. The man's laugh echoed in her ears and she closed her eyes tightly, expecting his touch on her face. "Although I do suppose that you were one of the ones that destroyed our creature..." He tsked. "We really could have used it, you know."

"Get away from her!" Kish shouted, jumping in front and shielding Ichigo.

The tall man's dark brown eyes narrowed and his glance flickered from Ichigo to Kish. "She's yours, I presume?"

"She's mine!" Kish snapped. "Back off!"

"Mine!" Ichigo began to protest, but suddenly grew quiet.

The strange man's eyes narrowed even further to slits. "Ah, a good challenge." The man crouched, facing Kish and grinning maniacally. In the blink of an eye, he attacked and he and Kish were rolling on the ground. Kish was trying to place his swords at the man's neck and the stranger evading the cuts. Ichigo gasped, aiming to stop the fight.

"Don't!" Kish commanded her, gritting his teeth. "Don't get into this, Ichigo!"

The tall man's eyes grew wide. "Ichigo? What a cute name!" He looked up and pinned Kish under him in a swift movement, a long silver bar pressed at his throat.

"No!" Ichigo screamed, lunging towards him. He ducked away; Kish clenched his jaw in pain.

The man laughed, casting wild looks around. "What? None of you are doing anything? You call yourself Tokyo Mew Mew, defenders of justice, but you're not going to try to help!"

The silver haired boy, slightly younger than his companion, spat, "You're weak. All of you."

With an insane laugh, the tan man who was currently trying to harm Kish pressed the bar tighter against his throat. "Stop it!" Ichigo cried. "Stop it, you're hurting him!" The man looked from Ichigo to Kish, and surprisingly obeyed her command. He jumped away.

Kish hastily got up, massaging his throat. "Are you alright?!" Kish asked Ichigo urgently.

"Am I alright?!" Ichigo asked him incredulously. "No, are _you _alright?!"

"Forgive me for being so rude," the man apologized, but Ichigo knew at once that he wasn't being sincere. "Allow me to introduce ourselves because although we know you three..." He pointed a hand at Kish, Pai and Tart, "it appears that some of us have not met before. We're not usually so shy, and we would have liked to introduce ourselves much sooner, but circumstances would not permit."

"What do you want?" Pai asked them, blocking Lettuce from their view. Briefly, Ichigo allowed herself a smile; Pai was trying to protect Lettuce.

The small boy snarled, "My, my, how rude, Pai, to interrupt us! And to think, at once, we were good friends."

"We were never friends," Pai said harshly.

The same boy ignored him, waving a hand in the air. "But, no, you were selfish. All of you are selfish."

"Stay away from them," Pai commanded the two.

From above, the white blonde man continued. His voice was carefree and breezy, and he hovered over to Kish and Ichigo. "My name, Ichigo, is Lime." Suddenly he was behind her, one hand grasping hers in a grip she could not budge. "Pleasure to meet you..." Kish rammed into him, furiously pounding at his chest. Lime appeared amused by the pain. "Yes, you've got it, that's it!" He cheered, drawing out the pipe again as Kish's swords appeared at his sides. The two circled each other, both ready to attack. Lime kept his eyes on Kish as he continued his introductions. "And this," Lime pointed to the darkest boy, a little younger than himself with skin verging on the color of black and silvery hair and light green eyes, "is Coconut."

Coconut nodded his head, eyes flickering toward Pudding and Tart. He smiled, lips tight. Pudding whimpered slight, stepping backwards as Coconut's eyes held hers. "Pudding!" Tart gasped as she clenched her fists in pain.

Tart growled at Coconut who replied coolly, "Take that, brat."

"Stop," Pudding murmured, casting a desperate look at Coconut. His eyes were almost hypnotic, still light green, but no longer lighthearted. They were deadly.

"Coconut, do give them a moment to prepare for us," Lime chuckled and Coconut moved his gaze to the gathering clouds above. Seeing Pudding's confused looks, he said, "I'll explain that to you later." At that moment, Kish attacked Lime. He jabbed at him with his swords, but Lime evaded each as easily as if he was jumping rope and not avoiding getting cutting.

"No, no," Lime wagged a finger at him as he jumping away, unphased by Kish's attacks. The two had gotten up, and Kish was slashing violently at him. "Not that I'm not expecting any of you to win, anyway. Earth, and Terra, will both be ours."

"Good luck," Kish spat.

Lime grinned, trapping Kish's arm under the bar before Kish escaped, and continued, "Now! Let us really begin." Lime moved so fast that Ichigo barely had time to register that he had jumped in front of her, pipe drawn at his side. "Now let's see how good you really are at this."

"No!" Pai shouted. "We'll handle this! Leave the Mew Mews out of this!"

Ichigo blinked as the pipe drew closer to her head. The pipe was a blur, just noticeable in the corner of her eye. "Ichigo!" Kish shouted, slamming into her and knocking her into the ground just seconds before the bar hit her head.

"W-what?" Ichigo breathed, eyes confused.

Kish also appeared distracted himself. "Have I ever told you that I love your hair like that?" Kish breathed, fondling a pink strand. Ichigo smacked him.

"Kish, not the time," Ichigo hissed, snapping back to normal. She shoved him off, sending an attack at Lime. "Look!" Ichigo cried, coming closer to him. "I don't know what's wrong with you, but stop it! Now!"

Lime smiled, appearing behind her as suddenly as before and pressing the pole tightly against her throat. "And why would I do that?"

She gagged, trying to push him away to no avail. "ICHIGO!" Kish shouted, eyes wide and desperate, jumping onto Lime. Lime laughed again, easily throwing him away. Kish ran toward him again, hands outstretched to kill. "DON'T HURT HER!"

"I get it now," Lime murmured, and the pressure on her throat weakened. Ichigo dropped to the ground, panting. Desperately she tried to crawl away, but Lime pressed a foot on her tail. "She's your weakness. Ichigo is your weakness."

Pai appeared behind him, striking Lime harshly on the back of his head. Ichigo cringed, hearing a crack, and Lime dropped down with a thud to the ground. "I told you to leave them out of this." Pai scowled before turning to Ichigo. "He'll be awake in a few minutes or so. Go now, while you still have the chance. We'll handle this."

"No," Lettuce said from his side, helping Ichigo up. "We'll help." She smiled at her teammates, all fighting the creature along with Coconut distracting them. "We're a team. That's what a team does.

Pai blinked. "You can't get hurt. I won't allow it."

Lettuce smiled, eyes bright. She touched his hand. "But we're in this together."

Pai looked at her hand on his before taking it off and walking away. Lettuce looked immensely confused, but followed him. "Don't mind him," Kish said, curiously watching his friend. "He doesn't do well when it comes to emotions." He cast a look at Ichigo and she was about to retort back with a witty comment when his eyes met hers.

"Uh," she said, dazzled.

Kish smirked. "Like what you see?"

"No!" Ichigo snapped.

He laughed, ruffling her hair. "Come on, Kitten, go fight." He jerked at hand over at an unconscious Lime. "I'll handle him when he wakes up." Quickly, Ichigo scurried away and Kish watched her every move with concern. Lime woke up with a groan, but cracked a dark smile when he saw Kish with his swords ready at his side.

"After all this time," Lime said, voice hoarse, "I thought you didn't have a weakness. You were Kisshu, the undefeated one. Nothing ever got past you, and no one we sent ever came back..." Wryly, Kish grinned back at him. He kept his swords on Lime's throat, prepared to kill. Lime's eyes narrowed. "But now, I understand. She's your weakness: the pink Mew."

"Nope," Kish laughed, casting a loving look at Ichigo, "you're wrong. _She's_ the reason I keep fighting."

Lime smiled narrowly, vanishing from under him. His voice echoed. "Nevertheless, Ichigo's your weakness... And now I know how to destroy you, and your planet." Appearing with a flourish, Lime attempted to drive Kish to the ground. "Well, at least you have good taste," he said lightheartedly, resulting in a scowl from Kish.

"Leave Ichigo out of this!"

"Honestly, Ichigo has nothing to do with this. I don't want her."

"Good," Kish growled.

"Still," Lime grinned, "she'll make a good trophy when we beat you."

"Never," Kish grimaced.

"Prepare to die, scum," Lime spat before lunging at him.

From the distance, Ichigo watched. She bit her lip, hesitating. _Should I help Kish?_ She shook her head. _No, he know what he's doing. He's winning, anyway. _Barely evading a blow from the monster, she jumped out of the way just in time.

"What?" Coconut taunted. "Losing stamina?"

Ichigo glared at him. "That's it, you dork! Strawberry Check!"

Her attack hit Coconut in the arm, catching him off guard. "You'll pay for that!" Coconut's face grew darker and darker, and Ichigo was certain that he would have killed her if he had the chance.

But then, just like that, they were gone. The two had vanished into thin air.

"Are you okay?" Kish breathed into her ear. Ichigo jumped and hurried quickly inside the café.

"Uh, got to go," she shouted behind her. _I can't believe I'm just leaving like this... I'd never do that! But I... But I have to get out of here! I have to see Masaya_! Ichigo sighed once she got into the café, biting her lip as she took her coat off from a hanger. Kish's words echoed in her head. She was just about to turn when she heard an all too familiar voice.

"Good job today, Koneko-chan."

_Speak of the devil..._ Ichigo allowed herself a brief smile. "Uh, thanks." She turned to walk out the door, when a hand grabbed her arm. She avoided Kish's eyes, confused.

"I saw you watching me," Kish said playfully, "making sure I wasn't gonna get hurt? Don't worry, Kitten, I can take care of myself. And you."

"Um, yeah, well, you won't be any good to us dead," said Ichigo nervously.

"Honey," Kish said, sadness clouding his features, "why are you trying to avoid me?"

"What?" Ichigo asked.

Kish cocked his head to the side. "You know what I mean."

"Look," Ichigo sighed, keeping her attention on his lips, "you can't keep doing this. Whatever you're doing."

"I'm not doing anything," Kish insisted.

"Yes!" Ichigo shouted suddenly, pushing him away angrily. "You_ are _doing something!" Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Kish, I'm getting married. I can't do this."

"Why?" Kish implored her.

"You know why," Ichigo said forcefully. "I love Masaya. Not you. I can't do this, it's not fair to him."

"Masaya," Kish repeated slowly, eyes blazing, "it's always about Masaya, isn't it? He always comes between us..." Ichigo nodded her head briskly, hand poised to push open the door. "No, don't go," Kish whispered.

"I can't do this," Ichigo repeated. "It's not right. I love Masaya!"

"No, you don't, Kitten!" Kish said determinedly. "You love me!"

Ichigo cast her eyes downward, focused on the floor. "I can't," she whispered.

"I lost you once," Kish replied, eyes blazing, and his grip on her tightened, "I'm not losing you again. Don't you get it, Kitten?"

"Stop calling me Kitten!" Ichigo screamed, suddenly more upset than before. "I'm not yours!"

"No, you've always been mine," Kish insisted, eyes blazing.

"Stop it!" Ichigo demanded, her voice high and shrill. A single tear threatened to fall from her eyes and she blinked it back.

"No, you stop it!" Kish commanded, voice just as loud as hers. "You love me and you know it, Ichigo!"

Painfully, she wretched her arm from his. "We won't work out!"

"Yes," Kish whispered fervidly, "we will. I'll make it work out. I'm not going to let you marry him. It's a promise."

"For the last time, Kish," she pleaded, desperately, trying to get out before her will crumbled and the tears flowed. "Get over me. We'll never be together and you know that."

"Koneko-chan, are you crying?"

"No!" Ichigo yelled, trying to shove him away and make her escape.

Kish brought a hand to her chin, jerking it up with force. "Look at me."

"No..." Ichigo whimpered, suddenly weary and tired of this, moving so she no longer faced him. "Just let me go, Kish. Stop fighting me."

Kish wrapped an arm around her, possessively, that she attempted to shrug off. His eyes were now on fire. "I'll fight for the end until I get you, Koneko-chan," he whispered.

Ichigo shivered, shifting to face him. "You'll never get me..." She whispered hoarsely.

"Just give me a chance, Ichigo, please," Kish pleaded, slight smile on his lips.

For the first time during the night, she looked into his eyes and gasped. At this point, all she could see was golden amber and forest green with the occasional glimpse of snow white. _Oh God... _He had destroyed her resistance, and honestly, now there was nothing else to do but realize something. Suddenly, it became clear: she had fallen for him, just like that, as easy as breathing once she had given him the chance. "Why?" She asked, relishing the feeling of his hands that had somehow wound around her waist and hating the fact she was enjoying it.

"Why not?" He replied, whispering, and the gap between them slowly closed.

"Ichigo...?"

She froze, turning around to face the owner of the voice. "Masaya," she exclaimed, alarmed. He panted, rushing over to her and embracing her. Shutting her eyes tight together, forgetting everything that had just happened, and she hugged him as tightly as he hugged her.

"I heard the commotion from downtown," Masaya explained, still in their hug, "and I got worried. Are you okay? Is everything okay?"

"Yes," Ichigo sighed, a drop of a tear at the corner of her eyes. "Yes, yes, it's fine."

"Good," Masaya breathed, breaking out of their hug, "I don't know what I would do without you."

_Masaya..._ "I know, I don't know either." _How could I have been so stupid a second ago?! What I have for Kish isn't love, it's just attraction. Nothing can ever be like what I feel for Masaya!_

"Ichigo, I have something to tell you. It's about tomorrow." Ichigo froze, eyes wide. "I can't go," he sighed, "some thing's popped up that I can't cancel. And I know that we can't reschedule the appointment and I don't want you to go alone so I don't know what to do..."

"It's okay," Ichigo breathed, trying to hide the fact that she was upset. _Darn it, I was really looking forward to tomorrow..._

"Hey... I've got an idea!" Masaya smiled, kissing her on the lips, before turning to Kish. Kish looked frozen, anger and confusion on his face.

"What Masaya?" Ichigo said happily.

"Kish..." Masaya started, and Kish turned his furious gaze towards him. "You're around my size, aren't you?"

"I guess. I'm taller than you," he said flatly.

Masaya chuckled as if it was a funny joke. "Yeah, I know that, but we're around the same size and stuff... Do you think you could go with Ichigo tomorrow to the fitting and pick up stuff? I know it's sudden and all, but you're the closest to me in size and if we cancel it, then we can't get married for another year since they're booked solid. I really don't want Ichigo to go alone..."

Kish's eyes shone brightly, and a grin began to materialize on his face. Excitement was obviously present in him as he exclaimed, "Sure! Of course!"

"What?!" Ichigo shrieked in despair. "No way, we can't do that!"

Kish pretended to be hurt. "Why not? I thought you didn't mind my company... And it's Masaya's idea." Under his breath, he added, "You're not as bad as I thought, Masaya..."

"What's wrong, Ichigo?"

"It's just, I, ah," she sputtered, "it won't be the same without you, Masaya!"

Masaya smiled with happiness. "I'll miss you, too, Ichigo." He whispered in her ear, "Please, just this once, for me."

Ichigo didn't say anything at first, but said, "Okay, Masaya."

"Great!" He laughed before giving her a goodbye kiss. "I'll see you later, Ichigo."

"So, you and me, Koneko-chan," Kish smirked as Masaya left the room, "tomorrow we can kiss without him barging in on us. Sounds good to me!"

"Look, you!" Ichigo walked over to him, jabbing him with her index finger squarely in the chest after each sentence. "I've got a couple of rules to lay down, okay?"

Kish's grin didn't disappear. "Yeah, sure, whatever you want, Kitten."

"First, no trying to kiss me! Second, no trying to flirt with me! Third, no perverted comments! Got it? Just be... Friends."

"Friends?" Kish said, grin vanishing.

"Yes," Ichigo huffed, "just act as friends. So no funny business."

Kish looked at her with a bit of disappointment and longing. "At least I get to spend the day with you... As a friend."

Ichigo bit her lip. His sad expression was killing her. "Yeah. Okay, well... Maybe you can keeping being like you are around me, just keep it to yourself, okay?!"

"Thanks, Kitty-cat," he grinned, excitement back on his face. Against her will, Ichigo grinned back at him before moving to leave.

"I'll pick you up from here tomorrow. Be here at ten in the morning, got it? We've got a long drive tomorrow." _And I've got a long day tomorrow..._

"Okay, but... Oh, Koneko-chan?"

"Yeah?" She was already frazzled enough as it was; at this point, she just wanted to go home.

He suddenly picked her up and spun her around in the air. He put her down and kissed her on the forehead. Ichigo turned pink, looking at him. "I can't wait until tomorrow," he told her, large smile on his face

Slowly, Ichigo began to smile herself as she looked up at him, amusement on her face. "Me too," she said, throwing a hand behind her in a wave before leaving out the door. "See you tomorrow, Kish!"

Kish's grin grew even wider. He laughed and the sound echoed throughout the room, full of joy and happiness. Pumping a fist in the air, he shouted, "VICTORY!," before teleporting into the night sky.

From a little farther away, Ichigo heard the ghost of a shout of joy that sounded just like a certain overjoyed alien. With a small smile she giggled, placing a hand over her mouth. "Oh, Kish..."

* * *

**A/N:** So that's where Pai' sheets of date went!! Anyway, introducing the Betrayers to the scene. Once again, let me know what you think of them! Sorry about the epic fail fight scene. ^^"

I know you guys are all, "SHE'S ABOUT TO KISS HIM!" but I have a lot of KxI stuff going on in the next chapter... I promise I'll update soon!

To **Heart** (sorry, for whatever reason it won't let me write the symbol ^^"): Wow, check you out! I can't believe you reviewed, really, almost every single chapter! That's so kind of you, honestly! Thanks so much. :)

To **Tragedy Pearl Mew**: Ack! I can't believe I forgot to thank you for reviewing! I'm oh so happy to hear that you've enjoyed the story; thank you!

To **Freaking KisshuFan!!! XD**: It looks as if I've forgotten to thank you too... I'm so sorry this is coming so late! I'm psyched to hear you like it. But no bashing Masaya, bud. XD Haha, thank you so much!

Thank you to everyone reading this for everything! To anyone else who I've forgotten to thank (whether you have an account or are an anonymous reviewer,) thank you so much! Your support is beyond appreciated. :3

I'd really like to thank all of our reviewers so much-- thanks to _you_, we've come so far!! Thanks to you all, these past 14 chapters have received a whopping total of 163 reviews! Can you believe it, everyone?? Not to mention how the viewing stats are constantly jumping off the charts like crazy! It really feel good to know I have so many of you backing me up. :3 Many thanks go to the infinite amount of readers this story is getting, and special thanks to reviewers. All of you really are what inspire me to write PtC, and I truly can't do this without you all!

~ Bunny


	16. Chapter 16: I Belong with You

Chapter 16: I Belong with You

* * *

_Trip over love, you can get up. Fall in love and you fall forever._

_- Unknown

* * *

_

Ichigo was late, but it wasn't a surprise to Kish, since his favorite activity had been, and still was, watching her. He laughed quietly as he watched her stumble out of bed, five minutes past ten, before shrieking, "GAH! I'M LATE!"

When she lost her hair tie, Kish almost materialized inside of her room to get it for her until he realized, seconds before he did, that Ichigo probably wouldn't be the happiest if she noticed he was there.

As she scurried out the door, a slice of half eaten toast in her mouth, Kish followed her. He lagged behind slightly since Ichigo seemed to be amazingly aware of her surroundings despite the fact that she was half awake. Every few minutes, she turned around and, at one point, she almost caught a glance of him.

Teleporting barely a minute before Ichigo arrived, Kish made a perfect picture of easiness. Keeping a slightly bored expression on his face, he watched Ichigo run up to him. Stopping, she panted and grabbed his shoulders to keep from falling over while Kish watched with an amused expression on his face. Light danced in his eyes as he said lied, "Finally, Kitten, I've been waiting here for hours!"

"Sorry!" Ichigo apologized, still quite out of it, breathing still ragged. "Sorry, sorry!"

"He gave her a few seconds to catch her breath. "So," Kish asked, accompanied by an inquiring gaze, "how are we getting there? Where's the car?"

"Getting... there?" Still dazed and confused, as well as half asleep, Ichigo blinked a few times. And then it dawned on her. "NOOOO, SHOOT! I left the car at home!" Smacking her forehead, she groaned before nearly collapsing to the ground at his feet. "I can't believe... I forgot the car. And the keys." Ichigo threw her head back, hair swinging behind her in a wild manner. "Wuah! And I ran all the way here!"

Kish laughed, fondling her hair before she smacked his hand away; Ichigo was clearly, despite being out of it, aware of his presence by her side. But her hair was down today, somewhat wavy, and Kish mentally noted that he liked it the best that way: when it was blowing in the breeze, just barely tickling his arm. He reassured her with a laugh: "I've got time. It's fine. We can just walk home."

"Ugh," Ichigo cried before grabbing his arm and pulling him in her direction with a jerk. She walked at a brisk pace, trying to get home as quickly as possible. Kish steadied himself, keeping up with her quick pace until she began to run. He rocketed forward, tripping over his feet from the sudden momentum, collapsing onto her.

"Ahh!" Ichigo shrieked, looking straight into his eyes. She had a far off expression for a moment before coming to her senses. With an irritated sigh, she shoved him off. Brushing the dust off her skirt and adjusting the strap on her purse, she offered a hand to help him up. Kish still maintained a smooth expression as he gazed at her outstretched hand, despite Ichigo's embarrassed face.

"Sorry," she muttered, still offering his hand and keeping her eyes on the sidewalk, "but we're almost home."

With a smirk, he reached to take her hand. Using more than enough force to pull himself up, he over estimated. With a shout of "Whoa!" from Kish and "Oh no!" from Ichigo, he landed on top of her again. Kish took in Ichigo's surprised expression, and the smirk grew. "Koneko-chan," he whispered, "you're bright red. Do I really have that effect on you?"

Ichigo's eyes grew wide. "Uh, what? I..."

He smiled, smoothing a piece of hair behind her ear, before looking up and grinning. "You have to admit though that this is a pretty comfortable position..."

"Kish!" Ichigo shouted, shoving him off her. "Stop it!" Kish chuckled, not promising anything. Ichigo didn't take his hand again. "We're here," she said flatly.

"Great," Kish said, stretching. "You're driving, I guess?"

Ichigo rolled her eyes, pulling open her door and looking at Kish with a doubtful expression on her face. "Unless you suddenly have a driver's license, I sure am- hey, what are you wearing?"

Kish paused, confused. "Uh, clothes?"

"No," Ichigo shook her head, "I know that. But, I mean, _what_ are you wearing? You can't wear that!"

"Why not? There's nothing wrong with this..." Kish brought a hand down over his usual garb, still the same from when they were young teens. "... outfit." Ichigo sighed and pulled her house keys from inside her purse.

"Come on," she grimaced and pulled him into her house, "I've got to get you new clothes."

"Why? Isn't this perfectly normal?" Kish asked innocently and followed Ichigo up the stairs. He surveyed everything.

Ichigo took one look at Kish before laughing. "Ha ha ha! That's funny. Seriously though, we've got to get you changed. This," she pointed to her own outfit, "is normal."

Kish looked her up and down, taking in _her _more than her _clothes _as she flipped through what he assumed was her father's closet. She was wearing a tantalizing teal blue skirt with a pair of long laced up brown boots that, in his opinion, showed her legs off nicely. Her top was more modest, striped white and teal blue as well, with rolled up three quarter length sleeves. It clung to her figure and he mentally traced it over. Ichigo turned red as she faced him. "Uh, Kish?"

"Eh, yeah?" He asked, distracted. Absentmindedly he licked his lips.

"STOP CHECKING ME OUT!"

Kish jumped, falling backwards into the closet. "Gah!" He landed on a pair of dress shoes and he ended up knocking nearly half the rack over, each shirt falling over him. Ichigo crossed her arms in satisfaction; the only part of him she could see was half of a long, pointed ear. _Serves you right... _"Mmrph, Ichigo, a little help here...?"

She sighed, sitting down on a wooden stool and looked at her nails. "Sorry, Kish, but I don't think so." Under her breath, she added, "You totally had that coming to you."

With an irritated chuckle, Kish slowly rose up. A sock clung to his hair, and Ichigo giggled. "What?" Kish asked, annoyed. His expression- angry, confused, and a bit happy, all at the same time- caused Ichigo to continue to smile and, still laughing slightly, she reached up to take the white sock off of his head.

"Change into this," Ichigo suggested, covering her mouth to stop from giggling too hard. Kish rolled his eyes, but maintaining his usual cocky expression, began to change. Slowly, slowly, ever so slowly, his shirt went off. "Kish!" Ichigo shrieked, throwing a hanger at him. "Get out!"

"But you said to change..." He grinned.

"Not in front of me, you pervert!" Ichigo whacked him with as much force as she could muster.

"Fine, fine," he sighed, walking out into... the hallway?

"Kish, change in the bathroom," Ichigo sighed, clutching her head as if she had a headache.

"Yeah, I knew that," he retorted back nonchalantly, "but you sure you don't want me to change in-"

_"Kish!"_

"You're missing out, Kitten!" Kish finally said, grinning, and retreated into the bathroom.

Ichigo sighed again. "Oh, today's going to be such a long day..." She stretched before hanging up the fallen rack of clothes.

"I could have done that for you," an oh so familiar voice offered behind her.

"Kish," Ichigo began angrily. And then she saw him. "Whoa."

If Ichigo had ever thought that her dad's clothes were only meant for dads, then she was wrong. The white t-shirt fit practically perfectly on Kish, and the green button up collared shirt merely accented his hair and eyes. The jeans fit well on his boyish frame, and Ichigo had to do a double take upon seeing him.

"Like what you see?" Kish wiggled his eyebrows.

"You ask that too much," she giggled.

"So, do you like it?"

"You look... good," Ichigo appraised him, slight blush creeping onto her cheeks; then, smirking, she added: "For someone who's paler than the white shirt he's wearing."

"Hell yeah, I do," he answered back, ignoring her comment, and Ichigo giggled. Then, she caught herself: what was she doing? Besides, that was so out of character for her to be laughing at Kish... It was like she was some silly school girl or something.

"Come on, you, we've got to get going. We've got a lot to do. Oh wait!" She put her hands on her hips and grimaced. "Is there anything we could do about your ears?"

"Kitten... I go around Tokyo like this all the time. It's fine."

"But someone's gonna notice your ears!"

He laughed. "Trust me, they won't. It's... a Cyniclon thing. They won't notice."

Kish watched her storm away, half smile on his lips: Ichigo was always so feisty. There was, truthfully, no other way to describe her; if anything, she was just like a cat. And he would, by the end of this disastrous wedding at the least, have her. Even if it meant de-clawing the poor thing.

By the time he reached her car, a shade of candy red, she had already started the engine. "So what took you so long?" she asked as she pulled away and into a main street.

"Why are we taking the car anyway?" replied Kish, keen on changing the subject.

"Because," Ichigo sighed, "the shop's about an hour away." She looked at Kish for a split second before focusing her attention back on the road. "Can I tell you something?"

Kish smiled. "It's okay, I know about your undying love for me already."

Ichigo glared at him. "Kish..." she began, warningly.

"I'm just kidding around," he grinned. "Sure, honey. What is it?"

"I... I wanted this wedding to be perfect."

Ichigo paused, reassuring herself, "It _is_ perfect; I'm planning it all out how it should be, how it's supposed to be. The flowers and the cake and the dress and everything." At this point she was talking more to herself than to him. "Masaya's helping, too, of course. But Masaya's busy: he has things to do, and I don't want to trouble him too much or anything. He's busy, I understand that-"

"- but you wanted to be with him," Kish pointed out in a matter-of-fact tone, but not bothering to hide his disappointment.

Ichigo was quiet for a moment. "Yeah," she whispered softly. Kish nodded his head sullenly, about to say more, when she quickly added, "It's not that I don't support him or anything! I really do, and his work means so much to him. And I know that_ I _mean a lot to him, too. But it's just that I wanted things to be a little bit different, y'know?" A pause. "I'm blessed, I know that. I have friends who love me and a great job- well, maybe it could be a little better. But my life is good. And when I imagine my life... I can't imagine it without Masaya."

This time, Kish was silent. And then, regardless of what he felt, he told her: "I understand."

"I've never told anyone that before," Ichigo said in a hushed tone, "not even Mint, or Lettuce, and I couldn't tell Masaya... It would be too much of a troublesome thing for him to worry about. He's already busy enough as it is."

"Shouldn't love mean you can tell the other person anything in the world?"

Ichigo smiled. "It does! And I _could_ tell Masaya if I wanted to, before _you_ start getting any ideas! But that would just be something for him to worry about, don't you agree? I don't want him to worry..."

"You shouldn't marry him," Kish started, anger suddenly in his voice.

"Don't say that," Ichigo snapped, "I know that you think that! But you don't get it!"

"What don't I get? I think I get this perfectly: you shouldn't marry him!"

"I _have_ to marry Masaya!"

"Do you have to or do you want to?" Kish demanded, smoldering.

"I want to!" Ichigo snapped back without thinking.

It was silent the rest of the ride down.

* * *

Kish found the town to be rustic, charming in a foreign, old world way. It had a romantic, quaint aura around it with flowers in bloom in the fields and in the flower boxes outside the windows of each of the houses. In the middle of the town center was a marble stone fountain, simple but elegant with graceful molding.

"So where to first, Kitten?"

Ichigo was still upset at Kish, walking ahead of him at a brisk pace; she ignored his comment completely for a moment, and then turned around forcefully. "Look, I..." She sighed and then her mood changed. Ichigo looked up at the sky. "Is it any wonder that we argue all the time? I mean, look at us..." She sat down on the edge of the fountain, looking into it and circling her hand around in the spring. "I don't understand you, Kish. I admit it; I don't get how you work, what makes you tick."

Kish sat down next to her with a slight slump to his shoulders. And then, he straightened up and placed a hand on Ichigo's chin, making sure she was looking up at him. "What makes me tick is _you_, honey. I thought you knew that by now."

Ichigo moved away with him with a huff of air. "No one's life revolves solely around another person, Kish. That's silly."

He half-smiled. "You grew up a bit, didn't you?"

She moved back to face him, a light smile on her face as well. "You have to, don't you? We're not thirteen anymore. We're not even teenagers anymore, Kish!"

"But you still feel like you are when you're with me," he pointed out.

"... Yes." Ichigo straightened up, wiping the water droplets off her hand and onto her skirt. She smiled brightly and offered a hand to him. "So are we friends for a day?"

Kish's ears drooped. "Friends?"

"Of course! That was the condition that you agreed on when I said you could come with me to check out and fix up this wedding stuff!"

His smile dropped, before growing wide. "Oh no! Remember? You said I could act however I wanted to around you!"

Ichigo opened her mouth and then closed it, contradicted. The memory of yesterday, from their almost kiss to their agreement, lingered in her mind. "Deal," she replied, pursuing her lips, before striking a triumphant pose. "But I said you only could as long as you kept it to yourself." Seeing his expression, she laughed. "Ha! Let's go, Kish, we've got some stuff to do..."

"Where to first?" he asked.

"Well," she started, shifting her weight from one foot to the other, cheeks red, "in all honesty, this was supposed to be a date for me and Masaya..."

Kish growled too low for her to hear.

"So, when I think about it, the only thing that we really need to do is pick up my dress, to see if it's finally been fitted correctly and all, and Masaya's tuxedo... I think everything's all right with it, but I remember he said something about you needing to try it on yourself?"

Kish nodded. "I remember that."

"I know we're sampling the food and all today, too!" She giggled. "I'm pretty excited for that, actually... And, well..." Her blush became a dark red. "Like I said, it was supposed to be our date so that would kind of, ah, take up the whole day and all, and, well..."

"Everything's already paid for, right?"

"Yeah." Ichigo fidgeted with her hands, looking down at the brick path under her feet.

"What are you waiting for?" Kish laughed, eyes lighting up.

Ichigo looked at him suspiciously. "What are you laughing for, Kish?"

"What do you think, Kitten? That'd be such a waste of money for you to skip all that stuff... So let's just go on a date ourselves!"

Ichigo froze. "What?"

He moved his hands behind his head. "Think about it. It makes perfect sense."

"I don't think we should be going on a date, Kish-"

"Date, friend get together, whatever the hell you want to call it." His grin went from ear to ear. "But for me, this is totally a date."

"We've still got wedding stuff to pick out," Ichigo reminded him, almost in a warning tone.

Kish paused. "Eh. That doesn't faze me, Kitten!"

Ichigo couldn't help but let out a laugh; when Kish wasn't attacking her for marrying Masaya, his attitude easily caught on. "So, first, we want to get the dress and tux and all out of the way?"

Kish waved a hand in the air. "Sure, sure." He spotted what he assumed was the boutique, spotting a mannequin wearing a white dress in the window. "Let's go!" With a grin, Kish took her hand and began to go off in the general direction.

"Hey, wait, slow down!" Ichigo shouted, trying to wrench her hand from his. Still, she couldn't loosen his grasp. Shaking her head, Ichigo let out a tiny giggle; Kish always had a tendency to get carried away by emotion. _One day_, she assured herself, _just one day should be fine for us to be together... _

Reassessing her behavior, she shook her head. What was she doing? She couldn't just lead him on like that! But Kish looked so happy... Inside, she churned with conflicting emotions.

As soon as Kish entered the store, the high-pitched jingling bells ringing, the atmosphere changed. The smell of fresh rose petals wafted inside, and Ichigo inhaled deeply. The store was an utter, pristine white with red rose petals decorating the counters nearby the register. Ichigo smiled: it was like every little girl's dream, this bridal shop, and such a perfectly romantic setting. It was part of the reason why Ichigo had chosen there to search for the perfect gown, in this small little shop in the middle of nowhere. The only reason she had ever even seen the shop was because of a small ad in the corner of a Tokyo newspaper sectional; even from the small picture, it had reminded her of a place where magic really did exist.

Suddenly, Ichigo realized that Kish was still holding her hand. She blinked a few times, surprised by herself how comfortable that felt, before shaking her head and giving one final pull to get her hand free. It wouldn't budge. "Kish," she hissed, "let go of my hand."

He ignored her comment completely. "Oh hello!" He said charmingly to a short young woman with a sleek black haircut. "We're just here for some fitting and final pick up." With a light grunt, Ichigo finally got her hand free.

"Ichigo Momomiya," she said with a smile on her face.

The woman gave a nod and flashed a cheerful smile at Kish before departing into a back room behind a red curtain. The curtain swished, rustling, before finally standing still.

Using all of her strength, Ichigo stomped on Kish's foot. Hard.

"_Ow!_" he shouted, unable to muffle his voice.

"You jerk!" Ichigo whispered in a fierce voice to him. "Why wouldn't you let go of my hand?"

"_Why_ _would I_ have let go of your hand?" He counteracted at her. "There's nothing wrong with holding hands."

Ichigo felt as if steam was coming from her ears. He was so infuriating! "There's something wrong with holding hands when it means to you something more than it should!"

Kish moved away from her with a sigh. Ichigo went to follow him, placing a hand on his shoulder to turn him around to face her, when she tripped over a snag on a rug. "Aieeee!" she hollered, as Kish easily turned around and caught her in his arms. Their lips were so close, and Ichigo felt her own begin to tingle. "Ah," she breathed as Kish let out a smirk of his own.

The same woman who had ventured into the back room poked her head out from behind the red velvet curtain. "Is everything okay out there?" she asked with a worried expression on her face.

Ichigo let out a false smile. "Of course! I just tripped, that's all."

"There's absolutely _nothing_ wrong," Kish commented cheerfully, not bothering to take his eyes off of Ichigo and clearly pleased with the current situation; Ichigo's cheeks flushed pink and as soon as the woman disappeared again, after one last unconvinced look, shoved Kish away.

"No, come back," he whined, reaching his arms to her.

"Shut up, Kish," she muttered, "it's not like I collapsed onto you on purpose or something."

He spun her around to face him, Ichigo's mouth in an "o" shape from shock at the sudden movement. "Whether it was on purpose or not, Kitten," he purred, "even you can not deny that you enjoyed that." The smirk on his face was back once again.

Without hesitation, Ichigo moved to slap him; she stopped promptly when the woman came back once more. Behind her were two men, in formal clothing, with her dress in their arms. "Oh!" Ichigo breathed, giving a real smile this time.

One of the men smiled; he was cleanly polished, and Ichigo naturally assumed he was the owner of the store. "Hello!" he chimed, his voice smooth. "Always glad to see a customer satisfied! But it truly is a beautiful dress. You have excellent taste." He clapped his hands together. "Mariko! Come, please lead the young lady... I'm sorry, it appears as if I've forgotten your name it's been so long." He gestured to her for her name.

Ichigo waved a hand in the air. "No, I understand, it's been months now; my name is Ichigo."

"It suits you. My name is Suguru." He smiled, and turned back to the woman, Mariko. "Please help Ichigo find her way in the back to a dressing room."

The red haired girl gave another smile as the woman gestured her over towards the left side of the store, where a crimson curtain fell over an entranceway; Ichigo was so happy about her dress that she was nearly bouncing.

"And what are you here for, sir?" the man who had not spoken yet asked Kish, polite in tone and appearance. "My name is Yoshi. How can I help you?"

"Oh, I'm just for some fitting," Kish replied, stretching.

"Ah!" the owner, Suguru, said, lighting up. "You must be Aoyama Masaya!"

Kish's grin faltered for a few moments, near grimace on his face. "Yes, I'm here for fitting," he repeated firmly, his mouth flat.

"Well then," he boomed, "it's a pleasure to met you, sir! I was unable to meet you the last time, if I remember correctly but I assure you that I heard the very best. You are as handsome as they said, sir! Although..." His smile dropped to a frown for a moment- he could have sworn that he heard that Ichigo's fiancée had black hair- but then reappeared. "Nevermind! Right this way." He lead him to the same way Ichigo had came in; behind the veil was what appeared to be a dressing room, with a vanity mirror on the very end corner. There were only two dressing rooms, and Kish could overhear the animated conversation Ichigo was having with Mariko very clearly. Still, despite that, the room in itself was spacious enough for fifteen or so people to fit comfortably inside. "Just wait here," the owner said, the second man who had not spoken yet nodding his head. "I'll be back in a flash with your suit."

Kish merely nodded his head, focusing on the conversation between Ichigo and Mariko.

"You must be so exciting for your wedding, miss."

"Oh, yes, you have no idea!" Ichigo giggled, and trailed off. "I just..."

The woman's voice sounded as if she was smiled. "I understand. You look absolutely spectacular in this dress, miss."

"You think so? Oh, thank you! I really hope he likes it."

Kish let out a sigh and crossed his arms. He hated the fact she was talking about Masaya.

"Did you hear something?" Ichigo asked.

"Mm, probably just the sound of the satin of the dress or-"

"Here you are, sir!" the second man said, startling Kish; he jumped with a start and turned to face him.

"Oh, thanks," Kish said, venturing into the next dressing room across from the one he assumed Ichigo was in.

"So," Mariko continued cheerfully, "how long have you and he been together?"

"Since we were in seventh grade, actually," Ichigo giggled.

"Aw! That's so sweet!" Mariko said, smiling.

"Yeah," Ichigo said, "he's really... He's been the love of my life for a while now."

With a tug, Mariko tied the bow in the back of Ichigo's dress. "All right, miss, it's all right for you to step out now!"

"Thank you," Ichigo said.

With Mariko walking behind Ichigo, she advanced to the center of the room, where a large vanity mirror and elevated platform sat. Ichigo couldn't help but smile and giggle. She wondered what Masaya would think of her in her dress, but she had a feeling he would like it- she certainly loved it. But then another thought crept into her head, one that she couldn't shake out of it no matter what she tried: what would Kish think of her in her dress?

It was so stupid, so moronic, to think something like that. But she couldn't help it. Her mind was in somersaults and the butterflies in her stomach were threatening to fly into her heart and out of her mouth. _Ichigo, what are you doing?_ she asked herself.

And that was when Kish walked out.

"Oh, no, it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding!" said Mariko, running to advert Kish's eyes from Ichigo's, but the damage was already done.

He was gorgeous. Oh god, he was so gorgeous it shouldn't have been possible. The way his eyes flamed, how the white of the tuxedo managed to blend with his skin, the slight half-smile he had on his lips in the brief second he'd seen Ichigo...

She could go on for hours, for days, for eternity, just describing how perfect he was in that one moment.

"Come, miss," Yoshi said, and gestured for her to go back inside her dressing booth, "Mariko will help you change out of your dress and package it up for you."

Ichigo followed his orders, in a daze. Since when did Kish look so amazingly spectacular? Why that moment? How come she hadn't quite noticed until now how beautiful he was, in a strange exotic sort of way? All of a sudden, she was fascinated by him. Simply fascinated.

When she came out again, the men were with Kish again. "It looks great!" said Suguru, practically beaming. "Absolutely great! Only a minor change with the shoulders, but nothing that can't be fixed in two hours."

Kish turned around, slowly, turning to face Ichigo. She felt as if she was blinded. He held out his hands. "How do I look?"

For seconds, she said nothing. Kish's smile began to falter. But then she murmured, "Good." She bit her lip, wanting to stop herself but couldn't. "You look good."

When Kish's face lit up, Ichigo felt like her heart would burst.

Happy. That was the only word she could use to describe him. He looked so impeccably happy.

"Well!" the second man said. "All that's left to be done would be the payments, but if you two come back in two hours you can pick up and pay then."

"Great, thanks," Ichigo said, still dazed. When they lead Kish back to the dressing room, she almost didn't want them to take him away. But he came out about five minutes later, stretching and his usual self.

"How long have you two known each other?" one of the men asked.

"Since we were kids," Ichigo said. Kish's hand had automatically crept towards hers, but Ichigo hadn't noticed.

"And how long have you been together?" he asked, smiling.

_And how long have you been together? _That was strange. _What, wait? Kish and I... have never been together!_

"Huh?" Ichigo said, confused; her brain wasn't processing what the man said. _That couldn't be right. _Kish, however, understood the meaning behind the man's words immediately.

"How long have you two been together?" the man repeated.

"Oh no! I..." Ichigo began to say, but Kish's eyes gleamed and he cut her off.

"We've had a history from day one," Kish grinned, "because the first day I met her, I kissed her. And she was awfully mad that she lost her first kiss."

Mariko clapped her hands together, slight smile on her face.

"Yep," Kish said, grin from ear to ear, "it was definitely an eventful day. Truth be told, I'm not sure if Ichigo's ever forgiven me for it."

Ichigo was frozen. She tried to jerk away from him, but couldn't.

"If you don't mind me saying this," said Yoshi, "but you both really make _such_ a good couple! You have to be one of the, well, best I've seen in years."

At this point, Ichigo's stomach had stopped feeling so floaty; now it was churning like the sea. Kish's nerve! How could he dare say something like that, and lead those people on into believing they were together? She could strangle him. She really could strangle him. Ooh, as soon as she got out of that store she would-

"How about a kiss from the couple?"

_ … WHAT?_

"Oh yes!" Mariko clapped her hands together, an odd habit of hers Ichigo had began to realize.

_No, no, no, that won't do!_

Kish himself was actually frozen this time, half smile still left on his lips; it was almost as if he was so shocked that someone was asking him to kiss her. And, in that brief moment, Ichigo felt...

Hurt. Ouch.

But now, slowly, Kish was turning to face her, taking and drawing out his time. His eyes were almost watching her, gaging her expression. He rested a hand on her cheek.

"I..." Ichigo started to say, but her voice choked. He was going to kiss her; oh yes, he most certainly was and she was going to be unable to do anything to stop him and she was scared. She was so scared. Why?

Because she wouldn't be able to stop him. She knew that, it was a fact she couldn't deny.

But somehow, fate was on her side (or maybe against it) and the store bell chimed. Another couple had walked inside.

And something in Ichigo snapped. Blinking her eyes, she said, "Oh no, we are _not_ a couple!"

"You mean... he's not..." Yoshi started.

"No, of course not! What would make you think that?" Ichigo said, forcing a goodhearted laugh into her voice. But she felt shaky all over, and her legs felt like jello. "We have to get running," Ichigo said, turning away. Her eyelashes cast shadows over her cheeks and her voice was soft but sure.

"Of course, clearly understandable," said Suguru, jumping over the subject completely. Yoshi nodded his head.

"Don't forget to stop in later, you two!" Mariko chimed in.

Kish's hand still in hers, Ichigo raced out of the store. But not before they both heard, "I could have _sworn_ they were together..." The sun was shining, but Ichigo felt as if it should have been raining. She wretched her hand out of his with a jerk. "What the hell!" she screeched. "What happened in there? What is wrong with you? Don't you get it? Don't you get that I'm marrying Masaya and not you? And you have the audacity to convince them that we're together?" Ichigo continued on, infuriated, "But, no, you just tromp right in there and tell them we're getting together! And-"

"- I didn't convince them that we were together!"

Kish's eyes were flaming, his teeth barred. He spat out the next words. "Did you you really think I'd want to be Masaya for even a second? I hate him. I hate that guy!"

Ichigo was silent. Her mouth fell open.

"They assumed I was him! And I wanted to avoid humiliating you, Ichigo! Okay? So, sure, hate me all you want but I did it all for you!"

"But they wanted you to kiss me-"

"- It's not like I try to convince everyone that we should be together, Ichigo! It's not like I minded it or anything but, hey, they said it themselves, not me."

Ichigo was dumbfounded. "You mean... You didn't tell them to say that?"

Kish sighed and a ran a hand through his hair; when his eyes met hers, it pained her to look at them. "Do you really feel like we couldn't be together?"

"I don't know," she whispered, "but I know I shouldn't." Ichigo cleared her voice. "I'm sorry, Kish. I'm sorry. I shouldn't... think down on you so much. It's not right."

"It's okay." Brightening up in one of his sudden mood changes, he added, "But, Koneko-chan, you have to admit that they're right and we're a cute couple!"

"Shut up!" Ichigo said, flustered, and smacked him. This she could deal with. This she would be able to handle: it was times when Kish was melancholy that couldn't cope. "Come on, we've got people to see and places to go!"

After that, time passed quickly; much quicker than expected. And Ichigo found that... she actually really enjoyed Kish's company. When he wasn't blatantly pursuing her, it was nice being with him. He was funny, and made her laugh, and there was this air about him that drew her in. They bickered, almost constantly, but it was a good kind of bickering. Ichigo had no way to describe it. There were many occasions where Kish's hand oh so casually slipped into hers. And there were many occasions when Ichigo did not bother to remove it.

It felt good, holding his hand. At first, she felt uncomfortable; but then, after a while, she became used to it. His grip was sure, was warm, was surprisingly comfortable. Ichigo didn't want him to let go, as much as she tried to push that thought out of her head.

And Kish, of course, didn't.

This all reminded Ichigo of something... because what was happening seemed vaguely reminiscent to her for some reason, almost as if she had dreamed all this up once upon a time.

But this was such a nice dream she was having... She didn't want to wake up.

"We need to pick up your dress before we leave," Kish whispered in her ear.

Ichigo jumped surprised and a little bit dazed; this whole day was like a dream. "Oh, right! Um... yeah, let's do that now."

It was near closing time for the store, but all three of the general management perked up when they saw the pair and ignored the afternoon's embarrassing incident. Kish and Ichigo picked up her dress without hassle. They went to Ichigo's red car, placing the dress carefully in the backseat.

And then, Kish said: "Come on, I'll take you to dinner."

"What?"

"Yeah, come on, Koneko-chan!" Kish pulled at her hand. It felt so natural at this point that she didn't bother tugging away from him. "Let's go to dinner!"

Ichigo gave a light giggle. "No, Kish, really... We need to get home soon."

Kish's stomach groaned and Ichigo let out a louder giggle. "But I'm hungry."

"Fine, you big baby," said Ichigo and Kish began to lead her toward the only restaurant in town. It was charming, as was the rest of the town, but for whatever reason... It was especially charming that night.

Why hadn't Ichigo seen how easy it was to be with him before? Was it because she was always pushing him away? She had her reasons; she knew that she had her reasons. But Kish was actually a good person. Underneath the whole bravado, he actually cared. He actually gave a lot. She wasn't going to sugarcoat it: Kish was selfish. He was so very selfish. But maybe...

Dinner, like the day, ended sooner than Ichigo wanted.

"Let's walk around for a little bit," Kish suggested.

Ichigo stretched. "Mm, I don't know about that, Kish... We really need to get home."

But he noticed the tone of reluctance in her voice. "Come on, we'll just walk around for a little bit. Let's stay until the sun sets!"

Ichigo rolled her eyes; it was nearly dusk. But she didn't quite want to leave either... Not just yet.

"How come you never liked me when we were teenagers?" Kish asked.

"Excuse me?" Ichigo said, scrunching up her face in amusement.

"No, seriously! How come you were always getting so mad at me all the time?"

"Are you kidding me?" Ichigo laughed. "I still get mad at you."

"No, but it's different now."

Ichigo stopped walking to look at Kish; the light behind him cast shadows on his face. "Oh really? How?"

"Well," he said, taking her hand and intertwining her fingers with his, "for starters, you never would have let me do that."

Ichigo froze. She looked down to their hands. Slowly, ever so slowly, she moved her gaze from her hands to Kish's eyes; they were glowing. "I shouldn't have let you do this." She tried to loosen his grip, but he wouldn't budge.

"Yes, you should have," Kish said.

"No, I shouldn't!" Ichigo insisted, struggling to let her hand go.

The dream was over at this point; Ichigo had woken up.

"And why?"

"Because I just shouldn't!"

"That's not a kind of reason, Kitten!"

"Don't call me that!"

"Why shouldn't I?"

"No, Kish, stop. I shouldn't be doing this," Ichigo pleaded. "I shouldn't have done this. I can't believe I let this go on so long."

"There's a reason you would, Ichigo. Face it. You want me."

Ichigo was livid. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You want me." Kish smirked. "_You_ want _me_."

"That's ridiculous," said Ichigo, beginning to walk again at a brisk pace. Kish followed in her wake, and his long strides soon caught up to hers. "Why would I want you?"

"Because I'm attractive," Kish said in a matter-of-fact tone, "because my devilish charms caught up to you in the end, because of my incredibly sexy personality, because... I could go on for a while, honey. Would you like for me to continue? Or would you like to fill in a couple of the blanks yourself?"

"You!" Ichigo fumed. "You are the most arrogant, stubborn man I have never met. I can't believe that you'd even be so rude to assume that I actually feel something for you!"

"Oh Kitten, but you know you do!"

"No, I don't!"

Ichigo's walking had quickly brought them from out of the village center and the neighboring garden surrounding it to a field. They were in the country, as evident from the wide roaming space. It seemed as if it continued forever past the town. And then, there was a lone tree in the midst.

"You say that you don't love me so much," he scoffed, "that you actually almost believe yourself."

"Ha! I don't need to believe myself." Ichigo sniffed. "I know the truth."

"And what's that? That you're madly in love with me?"

"Wipe that smirk off your face! I am not madly in love with you! That's stupid. After everything you've done to me? Oh, really, Kish, that's a good one. I won't believe that I'm in love with you until you can prove it. And you can't."

Ichigo knew she had made a mistake in saying that. It was first the fact that she said she wouldn't be in love with him until he could give proof. And then she had added on that he couldn't. Of all people, she knew that Kish was stubborn and determined; he wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted.

He proved this to her in the next two seconds, because the next thing Ichigo knew was that she was pressed up against the lone tree in the clearing, her wrists pressed up in Kish's grasp.

"It's time to face the music, Kitten," Kish growled. "Because we both know that you're into me."

Ichigo's voice was shaky. "You're fooling yourself, Kish. This is a waste of time."

"I know I'm right. And you know it, too."

"Kish, stop deluding yourself!"

He sighed. "Stop denying the truth, Koneko-chan! If you didn't want me so bad, why did you even agree to today?"

Ichigo was silent.

Kish smirked, leaning his face closer to hers. "Exactly. You want me. Don't resist it, it's okay to give in. We both knew you would sooner or later."

"Ooh, you jerk!" Ichigo snarled. "I was actually having a nice time today until you decided to go all jerky on me!"

"Oh, but you like that about me, too," Kish said, grinning.

"No, I really don't," Ichigo spat. "I hate that you're like this. If you didn't have my hands over my head right now, I would have smacked you by now."

"I would have liked it," said Kish lightly.

"You're sick!"

"No, I would have liked it because that's a passionate feeling. And I know that it's so easy for humans to confuse hate and love... especially you, Kitten."

"You don't know anything about me, Kish! Now let me go!"

"You care about me though, don't you?"

Ichigo shook her head, confusion clear in her eyes. "Kish, what are you talking about?"

He swallowed, voice hard, and closed his eyes. "Don't you care about me, Kitten?"

Ichigo opened her mouth and closed it. "Kish, I really have no idea what you're talking about." His eyes flew open again.

"How can I make you realize?" In a rare moment, Kish seemed flustered and frustrated. "That, all along, you've cared for me." Ichigo moved her mouth to say a word, but Kish took one hand down to shush her lips. "No, shh, don't say anything. You've cared for me since you've met me, Kitten, otherwise the first day I kissed you never would have affected you so much whether it was your first kiss or not."

"Kish," Ichigo said, cocking her head to the side, "I really don't understand what you're trying to say."

"Let me prove it to you, let me prove it to you, Ichigo..."

"Prove what? Kish...?"

"We both know this is true-"

"- Kish, you have no idea what you're talking about-"

"- and the truth is-"

Ichigo suddenly realized what Kish was going to do. "Kish, no..."

"I belong with you, Koneko-chan," Kish whispered, eyes boring into hers, "and you belong with me."

There was nothing to stop him from kissing her this time. No distractions, no boyfriends (strike that- fiancées), no glittering rings to keep Ichigo on the path of goodness. But since when did he care about all that?

Kish kissed her.

He hadn't changed at all: he was still forceful, still passionate and still full of life. And as he kissed her, roughly and desperately as if today was the last day, Ichigo was frozen. She was stiff as a board, arms wrapped tightly around his neck, while he pressed her tighter against him, urging her to kiss him back.

Ichigo realized she hadn't been kissed by him in a long time. Seven years, to be precise. The opportunities had been present, but never carried out. By herself, at least. Why? This was nice: his warm arms around her, surprisingly strong, kissing her in a way that knocked the wind out of her. That knocked her out of her senses.

Maybe that was why she did what she did. So, forgetting about everything, she kissed him back just as much as he was kissing her. She felt Kish's happiness and jubilation, felt his smile through their kiss.

And it made her happy. Linking her arms tighter around him, touching her lips tenderly to his, she kissed him, losing count.

* * *

**A/N: **And you guys thought I forgot all about you, didn't you? No, no, I haven't forgotten! Just taken a... five or six month hiatus? Yikes. Here is the long awaited chapter of PtC!

Ouch. Sorry, everyone. Anyway, I mostly spent the summer with both writer's block and a general desire not to write. Which really shocked me! I had brief moments of inspirations, but could only write about a paragraph or two at a time. I have my reasons for this though: I have a feeling it was the result of a very rigorous year or high school.

BUT THEY KISSED! Finally. XD

Here's a few tidbits about the chapter: Suguru's name means eminent, Mariko's name means circle, and Yoshi's name means righteous. So, their names do have a kind of meaning actually haha! Suguru was named for eminence because PtC has hinted that a relationship between Kish and Ichigo is eminent, especially now that Masaya's off teaching the world about the environment. Mariko's name, meaning circle, shows that Ichigo's caught in this kind of circle relationship between Kish and Masaya. And Yoshi... Well, Ichigo's trying to kep her morals. She's trying to be righteous. But without somewhere there, it's a bit hard for her to do so.

Thank yous: First of all, I'd like to give a big huge thank-you to **Brown-eyed Wolf. **This girl is simply a sweetheart! She left the absolute kindest review I think I have ever received, and I'd like to dedicate this chapter to her. Thank you so much. :)

**KisshuFan!: **Hey there, thanks for the review. :D And, well, hey, give Masaya a chance. Trust me, I think you'll like him by the end of the story. :) Or I hope so, at least! I'm so happy to hear you like the KxI, and don't mind the Betrayers haha. As far as Coconut, his powers ARE kind of like Jane's from Twilight! I actually never really thought of that, but it's quite similar. However, I do have a secret to reveal so... We'll see! Thanks so much for reviewing! :)

**Heart: **Thanks again for reviewing. Gosh, you are just SO dedicated. Keep it up!

**Cherrie S. xx:** Because I know you wanna be mentioned too. XD

Well, in my absence, PtC had plenty of reviews and favorites! Crazy enough, story stats were still pretty high too... especially considering I hadn't updated in half a year! So hello there to any newcomers, and hey again to everyone who's stuck with me from the beginning. :) If you guys are still around, I'm so amazed!

All I can say, though, is that I'm overjoyed by the amount of hits and reviews that this story got during its time! ** So, as a thank you to all reviewers, for every review I receive [logged in reviewers, of course, although I love anonymous reviews as well!] the reviewer will get a thank you back with a snippet of about two sentences to a paragraph of the next chapter. [Unless you don't want me to spoil anything, of course! In that case, you'll receive an interesting fact about the story. Just let me know in the review]! ** Sound good? :)

Thank you so much to everyone! You are all what make this experience so enjoyable. :) I can't wait to publish the next chapter!

~ Bunny


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